Simeon Dyankov

After leaving the government of Boyko Borisov, Dyankov joined the Harvard Kennedy School as visiting faculty. His teaching is focused on the politics of development. During his time at Harvard, Dyankov edited a special issue of the Journal of Comparative Economics on the 25th anniversary from the start of transition in Eastern Europe. Jointly with Anders Aslund at the Atlantic Council, he co-authored a book on the transformation from communism.[4] The book contains chapters by Leszek Balcerowicz on Poland, Vaclav Klaus on the Czech Republic, Lajos Bokros on Hungary, Ivan Miklos on Slovakia, and Mart Laar on Estonia.

In October 2013, it was announced that the board of directors of private Moscow-based university New Economic School (NES) also known as the Russian Economic School had approved Dyankov as its rector.[5] During the tenure of Dyankov as Rector, the New Economic School relocated to a new campus in the Skolkovo Innovation Center.

In 2008, Dyankov established the think-tank Ideas42, jointly with Antoinette Schoar (MIT Sloan), Eldar Shafir (Princeton) and Sendhil Mullainathan (Harvard).[6] Dyankov joined the Peterson Institute for International Economics in 2013 and re-joined it in 2020.

Dyankov is the creator of the annual Doing Business report, the top-selling publication of the World Bank Group. The report came out of joint research work with Professor Andrei Shleifer at Harvard University, and was inspired by Dyankov's experience in overly-regulated socialist economies. In a 2016 article for the Journal of Economic Perspectives Dyankov explains how Doing Business started.

The reports were discontinued by the World Bank in September 2021, following the release of an independent audit of the data irregularities. The audit documented how Dyankov, along with World Bank head Kristalina Georgieva, pressured staff to manipulate the results of Doing Business Reports, in particular making data for China and Saudi Arabia look better.[8][9][10][11][12] The Board of the IMF, after a separate review, found no evidence for these claims.[13][14][15]

On July 27, 2009, Dyankov became Minister of Finance of Bulgaria. He reduced budget spending and managed to cut the budget deficit for 2009 to 4.4%. In 2010 it met the Maastricht criteria – 3%, falling to 2% in 2011 and 0.45% in 2012.[16] On December 1, 2009, Standard&Poors upgraded Bulgaria's investment outlook from "negative" to "stable," the only country in the European Union to receive an upgrade that year.[17]

On numerous occasions, Minister Dyankov stated that two successive terms are needed to complete the reforms that would lead Bulgaria from poorest to middle-income country by Central European standards.[18] Soon after, Parliament adopted the so-called Golden Rules in the organic budget law: the government cannot surpass a deficit of 2% of GDP and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 40% in any given year. Dyankov was a member of the GERB cabinet, but not a party member.[19]

At the second GERB party congress Dyankov urged delegates to lead such policies that the party wins a second term with full majority in parliament. This is needed, he said, to complete the reforms that would lead Bulgaria from poorest to middle-income country by Central European standards.[18] Soon after, Parliament adopted the so-called Golden Rules in the organic budget law: the government cannot surpass a deficit of 2% of GDP and a debt-to-GDP ratio of 40% in any given year. Dyankov believes in his role as an expert rather than a politician and even though he is a member of the GERB cabinet, he is not a member of the GERB party.[19]

In February 2013, Dyankov resigned in protest of the decision by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to advance subsidies to farmers.[20] On February 20, 2013, PM Borisov announced the resignation of the government due to increasing levels of violence in the protests due to high electricity prices.[21][22] Dyankov continued to serve as finance minister until a caretaker government was formed a month later.