By: Jože Biščak
The excitement felt on the left, not to say the socialist side of the public upon the presentation of the coalition agreement is understandable.
In my assessment, the nearly three‑quarters alignment with the principles of classical liberalism (from the ideas of Adam Smith and John Locke to Friedrich von Hayek and Ludwig von Mises) suggests that the new government will (finally!) refrain from excessive interference in the economy and will instead protect rights such as private property, individual and economic freedoms, encourage competition and the free market, maintain low and predictable taxes, and abandon central planning and wealth redistribution. This is the complete opposite of what the outgoing government of Robert Golob was doing. This is also why left‑wing actors are already entrenched even before Janez Janša has formed his new government team and begun his work. They fear being cut off from other people’s money and having to survive by doing productive work on the market. Their reactions are therefore understandable, all the subsystems captured by parasitic left‑wing actors, and now threatened because they may no longer survive without access to the budget trough, have spoken up.
They say paper can take anything, so we must wait for the implementation of the coalition agreement, which I sincerely hope will not remain at the level of rhetoric but will become the foundation of the future paradigm. Although Golob’s government presented itself as liberal, it pushed Slovenia into the largest post‑independence wave of state interventionism to date: new tax burdens, an unprecedented expansion of the public sector and state administration, ideological subordination of state‑owned media, a growing budget deficit, and new borrowing. The new coalition agreement builds on and returns to the fundamental principle that the state protects rights and creates a productive environment, rather than acting as the main player in the economy and consequently in the market.
The strongest signal for the introduction of a free‑market economy is undoubtedly the part of the agreement that addresses tax policy: reducing the top income‑tax bracket from 50 to 40 percent, gradually increasing the general allowance, flat‑rate taxation for small entrepreneurs, and more. This reflects a clear rejection of the egalitarian philosophy based on the premise that money should be taken “from each according to his ability” and given “to each according to his needs.” It is precisely this kind of thinking that has contributed to the fact that Slovenia still does not have a single billionaire, as left‑wing policies have been oriented toward punishing the successful rather than encouraging work, saving, and investing. Another very important issue is the system of subsidies. Although the coalition agreement maintains them, the government is expected to gradually reduce them. If this truly happens, it will be a direct blow to state interventionism, which distorts the market. State funds are now supposed to be directed toward projects that create real added value, not toward ideologically or politically appealing projects.
Of course, the coalition agreement is not entirely economically liberal. It would be unrealistic to expect that, since Slovenia is an EU member state and dependent on decisions made in Brussels, which is strongly inclined toward the Keynesian illusion that the state can stimulate economic growth through its spending. The same applies to the preservation of the state healthcare and pension systems and certain social schemes. But overall, the agreement is set in a way that suits my preferences and is far removed from what the left‑wing actors did, who in the last term comfortably secured their place at the budget trough. We can therefore expect strong resistance: from protests and strikes to media campaigns and complaints to the European Commission. It will be crucial for the coalition to remain firm and persistent, to maintain unity with the help of the Resni.ca party, and to actually implement what is written in the coalition agreement. But if Janša’s government manages to implement even half of what is written, Slovenia could become a more competitive, fairer, and freer country within just two years. History shows that liberal economic reforms work.