The Milton Friedman Disciple With an Eye on Poland's Government
- Economist's start-up party promises voters budget restraint
- Polls show it may place as high as third in Oct. 25 election
Ryszard Petru, leader of Nowoczesna, speaks during a news conference Oct. 9, 2015.
Photographer: Janek Skarzynski/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Ryszard Petru has a message that sounds rather unlikely for the leader of a small upstart political party in Europe nowadays: austerity is good, and so are markets.
The 43-year-old Polish economist is preaching the gospel of Milton Friedman -- lower government spending and tax cuts -- and Poles are listening. Petru’s five-month-old party, Nowoczesna, is polling as high as 9 percent before Poland’s Oct. 25 election, and it just might find itself as kingmaker as the two biggest parties slug it out.