Whom to appoint as finance minister to balance the budget

Ministry of Finance, Germany. Wikimedia Commons.

So what appear to be the characteristics of the ’perfect finance minister’? In times of fiscal stress and global fiscal uncertainties the ’perfect’ finance minister should pay much attention to reaching a sound budget. It is more likely that she succeeds in doing so, if she has significant professional experience in the field of business finance and if she stays in office for a long time. Moreover, in a coalition government she should belong to the same party than the prime minister. It does not matter how old she is, or what (or if) she studied, or, for that matter whether the finance minister is male or female, with or without children (p. 25).

The article, by Beate Jochimsen & Sebastian Thomasius, is published here (June 2014). A draft is here (2012).