Be careful that your wishes do not start coming true! This is what my friends, regular readers of ‘Ekonomalija’, have been warning me about in recent days.
The conversations go something like this:
– Have you called for a businessman to be prime minister? – I have.
– Did we get him?
– We did.
– And, what do you say?
– Nothing definitive yet. Like his predecessors, he has the right to a hundred days of grace.
– Have you called for him to present his program at least in a PowerPoint presentation?
– I have.
– And, what do you say?
– I say he did not leave a good first impression. But again, let’s give him a hundred days like the others.
– Good. But come on, be brave, since you’re on a roll, tell me what else you would wish for regarding the new government. So that I can throw that back in your face in a few weeks!
Honestly, I’m already afraid to think of a third wish when it comes to the new Croatian government. But since I’ve already started, there’s no point in backing down now. So, now I would wish from the ‘golden fish’ that Prime Minister Tihomir Orešković selects a quality economic advisor and alongside him a communication wizard.
Retake Exam Before arguing the thesis presented, just a small digression related to the insistence on a hundred days. This government was formed in chaotic circumstances. The candidate for Minister of Finance turned into a candidate for Prime Minister in three hours. So far, Orešković’s performances have been very underdeveloped, but there is hope for a retake exam. And we can go back four years and see what kind of cacophony prevailed in Milanović’s orchestra of newly minted ministers…
Moreover, when a columnist benevolently grants a hundred days of credit to the new government, they also gain the capital to have greater credibility afterwards, if needed, than those who expect everyone to be Superman from day one.
Sinn as Advisor Let’s return to the wish that Orešković takes an economic and communication advisor. It appears that Orešković would likely be a solid Minister of Finance. But for a macroeconomic strategist, it seems he lacks experience. Or capacity. He is, after all, primarily a financier. So we have a situation where the Government has two Ministers of Finance. The Prime Minister and the appointed Minister of Finance Zdravko Marić. We have two midfielders, but no striker!
Orešković would need an advisor! Who? Well, let’s say Hans-Werner Sinn. He is the expert from the German IFO Institute whom the HDZ invited to their major economic gathering last March. If Prime Minister Orešković spoke positively about the homework done by German economists, what could be more logical than having Sinn as his advisor? It would be a significant improvement compared to all recent prime ministers, none of whom had a personal economic advisor.
In addition to an economic advisor, the Prime Minister would also need a communication one. To a lesser extent to help Orešković master the nuances of the Croatian language, and more in creating and implementing a communication strategy with all segments of the public regarding the moves the Government will take in the upcoming period. It is terrible that political parties only use communication experts during election campaigns. Once power is won – they forget them.
And to gain a minimum of support for reform measures in a deeply divided and frustrated Croatian society, top-notch communication skills are required. It may be true that Croatian citizens are willing to make sacrifices, but the assumption is that an atmosphere is created in which all layers of society, in proportion to their economic power, will bear the burden of necessary measures. The last one who had a personal talent for convincing the masses was Nikica Valentić. If the Prime Minister lacks that talent, he needs an expert to help.
Of course, the prerequisite for all future moves is to fill the gap on which Orešković’s first PowerPoint presentation was ‘built’. It is logical that the Prime Minister first has his strategy designed and written out, say, in about fifty pages of text, and then makes a summary in PowerPoint from it. Since that has not happened, now based on the ‘summary’ a complete program should be written. The chances of that happening are small, but miracles do happen. A hundred days will pass quickly.
