In memory of Sándor Popovics

Abstract

90 years ago, on April 15, 1935, the founding president of the Hungarian National Bank passed away. The outstanding financial expert and economic politician was a defining personality of economic life for decades. In a memorial speech delivered at the request of the Hungarian Economic Association, Baron Frigyes Korányi, a former minister of finance, presents the outstanding expertise, leadership, statesmanship and human virtues of Sándor Popovics. From the tribute, we can learn about Sándor Popovics’ economic views on, among other things, the advantages of the market economy and individualism over collectivism, the sanctity of private property, the importance and limitations of state bureaucracy, the main tasks of economic policy, the dangers of overtaxation (and excessive state interventions in general), and the involvement of foreign capital. (The article is a reprint of the article published in the June-August 1935 issue of Közgazdasági Szemle.)