Thorkil Kristensen
| Thorkil Kristensen link (Politician, academic) | |
|---|---|
| File:Thorkil Kristensen.png | |
| Born | 9 October 1899 Fløjstrup, Denmark |
| Died | 26 June 1989 Birkerød, Denmark |
| Nationality | Danish |
| Alma mater | Copenhagen University |
First Secretary-General of the OECD. 3 Bilderbergs | |
Thorkil Kristensen was a Danish politician, finance minister and national economist. He became the First Secretary-General of the OECD. He attended 3 Bilderbergs, one in 1958 as Professor at Copenhagen Business School, where he presumably was scouted for the OECD job, and two in the 1960s as Secretary-General of the OECD.[1][2] He was a member of the Club of Rome.
Early life
He was born as a farmer's son in Fløjstrup and first took the real exam in Vejle in 1915 and then the commercial exam in Odense in 1916. In 1927 he graduated as a master of politics. in national economics at the University of Copenhagen.
Between 1938–1945 he was professor at Aarhus University and 1947–1960 at the Copenhagen Business School.
Political work
Thorkil Kristensen was elected member of the Folketing 1945–1960 and became Minister of Finance in the Ministry Knud Kristensen 1945–1947 and in the Ministry Erik Eriksen 1950–1953, where he was nicknamed 'Thorkil Livrem' ('Thorkil tighten the belt')
He came into conflict with the Liberal Party over economic policy and resigned from this party in 1960. The direct cause of the break was disagreement over an agreement that the party leadership had entered into with the Conservative People's Party in the autumn of 1959, which involved proposals for significant tax reductions, what he considered in the then situation to be irresponsible. A group of his followers were then (without his involvement) behind the creation of the Liberal Centre, which was represented in the Danish Parliament for a few years in the 1960s.
Secretary General
After his retirement from politics, he was 1960-1969 the last Secretary-General of the Organization for European Economic Co-operation (OEEC) and the first Secretary-General of the OECD.
In 1946 he became a member of the Danish Academy of Technical Sciences.
He was one of the initiators of the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, where he served as director in the period 1970–1988.