Pieter "Piet" Lieftinck (30 September 1902 – 9 July 1989) was a Dutch politician of the

Christian Historical Union The Christian Historical Union ( nl, Christelijk-Historische Unie, CHU) was a Protestant Christian democratic political party in the Netherlands. The CHU is one of the predecessors of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), into which it merged ...

(CHU) party and later the Labour Party (PvdA) and economist. Lieftinck applied at the

Utrecht University Utrecht University (UU; nl, Universiteit Utrecht, formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a public research university in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2018, it had an enrollm ...

in June 1919

majoring An academic major is the academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits. A student who successfully completes all courses required for the major qualifies for an undergraduate degree. The word ''major'' (also called ''conc ...

in Law and

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

and obtaining Bachelor of Economics and

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

degrees in July 1922 and worked as a student researcher before graduating with a

Master of Economics The Master of Economics (MEcon or MEc) is a postgraduate master's degree in economics comprising training in economic theory, econometrics, and/or applied economics. The degree is also offered as an MS or MSc, MA or MCom in economics; variant ...

and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree's in October 1927. Lieftinck served in the

Royal Netherlands Army The Royal Netherlands Army ( nl, Koninklijke Landmacht) is the land branch of the Netherlands Armed Forces. Though the Royal Netherlands Army was raised on 9 January 1814, its origins date back to 1572, when the was raised – making the Dut ...

as a

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

from November 1927 until November 1928. Lieftinck applied at the

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in April 1929 for a

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate ( bachelor's) degree. The organization and str ...

and obtained an Master of Financial Economics degree in December 1930 and later returned to the Utrecht University where worked as a researcher and got a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' ...

as an

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

Public economics Public economics ''(or economics of the public sector)'' is the study of government policy through the lens of economic efficiency and equity. Public economics builds on the theory of welfare economics and is ultimately used as a tool to improv ...

on 10 December 1931. Lieftinck worked as civil servant for the

Ministry of Labour The Ministry of Labour ('' UK''), or Labor ('' US''), also known as the Department of Labour, or Labor, is a government department responsible for setting labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, training, a ...

, Commerce and Industry from August 1931 until May 1932 and for the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour from May 1932 until June 1933 and the Ministry of Economic Affairs from June 1933 until October 1934 as Director-General of the department for General Economic Policy from June 1933 until October 1934. Lieftinck worked as a professor of

at the

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...

from 11 October 1934 until 30 March 1940. Lieftinck also served in the military reserve force of the

and was

mobilized Mobilization is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the Prussian Army. Mobilization theories and ...

in March 1940. On 10 May 1940

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

invaded the Netherlands and the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

fled to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

to escape the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

. Lieftinck fought in the Battle of the Netherlands and the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

and was captured following the capitulation and detained in Sint-Michielsgestel from October 1940 until he was transferred to Haren in November 1940 and was transferred to

Buchenwald concentration camp Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or s ...

in April 1941 and was released in January 1943. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Queen Wilhelmina ordered the formation of a cabinet of national unity to reorganize the state and make preparations for new

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

with Lieftinck appointed as

Minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

in the Cabinet Schermerhorn–Drees, taking office on 25 June 1945. On 9 February 1946 the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), the Free-thinking Democratic League (VDB) party and the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party choose to merge to form the Labour Party (PvdA), Lieftinck left the Christian Historical Union and subsequently joined the Labour Party. After the election of 1946 Lieftinck was elected as a Member of the House of Representatives, taking office on 4 June 1946. Following the cabinet formation of 1946 Lieftinck continued as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet Beel I, taking office on 3 July 1946. In April 1948 Lieftinck announced that he wouldn't stand for the election of 1948 but wanted run for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the e ...

. After the Senate election of 1948 Lieftinck was elected as a Member of the Senate, serving briefly from 27 July 1948 until 11 August 1948. After the election of 1948 Lieftinck continued as Minister of Finance in the Cabinet Drees–Van Schaik, taking office on 7 August 1948. The Cabinet Drees-Van Schaik fell on 24 January 1951 and continued to serve in a demissionary capacity until the cabinet formation of 1951 when it was replaced by Cabinet Drees I with Lieftinck remaining as Minister of Finance, taking office on 15 March 1951. In June 1952 Lieftinck was appointed as the Special Representative of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, mak ...

, he resigned as Minister of Finance the same day he took office as the Special Representative of the World Bank on 1 July 1952. In September 1955 Lieftinck was nominated as an Executive Director of the

World Bank Group The World Bank Group (WBG) is a family of five international organizations that make leveraged loans to developing countries. It is the largest and best-known development bank in the world and an observer at the United Nations Development Gr ...

and Executive Director for

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a Political union, politico-economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

in Washington, D.C., taking office on 1 October 1955. Serving as Executive Director of the World Bank Group, from 1 October 1955 until 1 May 1971 and as Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund from 1 October 1955 until 1 December 1976. Lieftinck also became active in the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The ...

and

public sector The public sector, also called the state sector, is the part of the economy composed of both public services and public enterprises. Public sectors include the public goods and governmental services such as the military, law enforcement, in ...

and served as a financial adviser for

Suriname Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...

from 1 August 1958 until 10 November 1975 and the KLM from 25 April 1963 until September 1977. Lieftinck was known for his abilities as a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

and '' policy wonk''. Lieftinck continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his death.

Biography

Early life

Lieftinck became professor at the

at a relatively young age. Before the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, he supported the left wing of the Protestant Christian Democrats (CHU). In 1945, he joined NVB, which failed in the elections of 1946. In 1946, he moved to the socialist party (PvdA) and in 1971 he joined the moderate leftist DS'70 party. From May 1942, he was a prominent hostage in the Sint-Michielsgestel prison camp (the former minor seminary of Beekvliet). He worked with other politicians on ideas of a new political constellation after the second world war in the breakthrough committee.

Politics

In June 1945, Lieftinck became the first post war

minister of Finance A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...

of the Netherlands. He inherited a deeply troubled

economy An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with t ...

. A third of the national assets were destroyed. The infrastructure was greatly damaged in war action.

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

was destroyed, practically all the large bridges were damaged and some large polders had been flooded. On top of that, the Allies demanded an expeditionary

to fight in the Pacific. The disastrous situation in the economy was further threatened by a sick financial economy. The government in exile had taken the gold reserves to

and had, to a significant degree, spent them. In the Netherlands, exports of money, goods and services to nazi

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

were credited to a

Reichsmark The (; sign: ℛℳ; abbreviation: RM) was the currency of Germany from 1924 until 20 June 1948 in West Germany, where it was replaced with the , and until 23 June 1948 in East Germany, where it was replaced by the East German mark. The Reich ...

account in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

that was, of course, never paid. The government budget was in heavy deficit, which was financed by printing money. The Dutch guilder was linked to the Reichsmark at the fixed rate of 1.327. In this way, the value of the Dutch guilder was completely linked to that of the Reichsmark and in 1945 the Reichsmark wasn't worth anything. These circumstances fulfilled all the conditions for an outbreak of hyperinflation: the money supply had quadrupled from 2.5 billion gulden to 10.9 billion guilder while the supply of goods was only a fraction of what it had been. The new minister of Finance started by withdrawing the 100 guilder note in July 1945. Those holding notes were given a blocked bank credit. This note had been the subject of distrust anyway and many were held by war profiteers. On 25 September 1945 it was announced that as of the next day all

banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

s were withdrawn and all bank credits frozen. All paper cash handed in gave rise to a credit on a blocked bank account. For one week, until 2 October 1945 there was no valid paper money in the country with a single exception. Everyone with a distribution card could change ten guilder in withdrawn notes for new money. This action was known as ''Lieftinck's tenner''. Significantly, although the amount was small, it was enough for a week. In the week of 26 September 1945, banks were supplied with new banknotes, so that people could receive their wages. In the following months, de-blocking started. On 19 September 1946 a special tax was levied on any positive difference in assets between May 1940 and December 1945.

Tax rate In a tax system, the tax rate is the ratio (usually expressed as a percentage) at which a business or person is taxed. There are several methods used to present a tax rate: statutory, average, marginal, and effective. These rates can also b ...

s went from 50 to 70% and 90% for unexplained profits, largely to hit profiteers. An additional tax on liquid assets was introduced on 11 July 1946. Rates went from 4 to 20%. This last measure came in for especially heavy criticism. The operation of "financial sanitation" was a great success. The

money supply In macroeconomics, the money supply (or money stock) refers to the total volume of currency held by the public at a particular point in time. There are several ways to define "money", but standard measures usually include Circulation (curren ...

was halved and inflation was kept on a reasonable level. This set the stage for meeting American demands to qualify for Marshall aid. Profiteers had helped to finance reparations of war damage. A great degree of leveling of wealth had occurred and the economy had been put on a new and sound footing; both points had been high on the wish list of the Beekvliet reformers. Lieftinck introduced a new coinage law in 1948, abrogating gold standard coins. In the same year, he moved a new banking law through parliament. He retired as minister in 1952, but from 1955, he was an Executive Director of the

and the

. After retirement in 1976, he remained active as an advisor to successive Dutch and

governments on matters of economic and financial reform.

Political party function

* Member of the executive board of the Christian Historical Union, from 1938 to 1939

Decorations

References

External links

*
Mr.Dr. P. (Piet) Lieftinck
Parlement & Politiek *
Mr.Dr. P. Lieftinck (PvdA)
Eerste Kamer der Staten-Generaal {{DEFAULTSORT:Lieftinck, Piet 1902 births 1989 deaths Buchenwald concentration camp survivors Commanders of the Order of the Netherlands Lion Christian Historical Union politicians Columbia University alumni Democratic Socialists '70 politicians Dutch chief executives in the finance industry Dutch corporate directors Dutch expatriates in Turkey Dutch expatriates in the United States Dutch financial analysts Dutch fiscal jurists Dutch members of the Dutch Reformed Church Dutch memoirists Dutch nonprofit directors Dutch people of World War II Dutch officials of the United Nations Dutch prisoners of war in World War II Erasmus University Rotterdam faculty Financial economists Independent politicians in the Netherlands International economists International Monetary Fund people Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau Labour Party (Netherlands) politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Netherlands) Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the Senate (Netherlands) Ministers of Finance of the Netherlands Monetarists People from Muiden Politicians from The Hague Politicians from Rotterdam Political economists Public economists Royal Netherlands Army officers Royal Netherlands Army personnel of World War II Utrecht University alumni Utrecht University faculty World Bank people World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Writers from Rotterdam 20th-century Dutch businesspeople 20th-century Dutch civil servants 20th-century Dutch economists 20th-century Dutch male writers 20th-century Dutch politicians 20th-century memoirists