The budget is not the property of any party headquarters. The budget is macroeconomics. And that is precisely why its place is at UNWE—the largest economics university in Southeastern Europe! I see that since this morning, some party officials have been stirring up yet another scandal over why the prime minister would present the framework of the 2027 Budget to students and lecturers, rather than first in parliament. Here are a few facts and some historical memory, since economic history is apparently being read selectively.
This was commented on Facebook by Lyuboslav Kostov, former chief economist of CITUB.
In 1947, George Marshall did not go to the US Congress to announce the most ambitious rescue plan in modern history. He went to Harvard University. That was where the “Marshall” Plan was presented. Emmanuel Macron does not go to the National Assembly when he presents reforms for France's fiscal future. He goes to the Sorbonne. British finance ministers traditionally test fiscal parameters before students and professors at the London School of Economics (LSE) before bringing them to the chamber. Even Roosevelt regularly presented his budget, including the “New Deal,” at Columbia University.
As a lecturer at UNWE, I believe that Bulgaria's future economists have every right to hear the figures BEFORE they are tainted by political embellishments and shouting from the parliamentary rostrum. At the university, the discussion will be professional, critical and science-based. We need to take the debate on fiscal consolidation and incomes away from party headquarters and return it to where it belongs—within the academic community. Enough shouting.
The law and the procedure must, of course, be observed. But tomorrow, those who understand economics, and the young people who will foot the bill for our decisions today, should have the first word. Everything else is simply political jealousy. Tomorrow, a serious discussion lies ahead of us at UNWE. And that is the right way!