1This year, Slovenia is celebrating 30 years of independent path and democracy of the Western type. In three decades, it has made a giant step forward; it is a member of all major international organizations and part of the developed world.

2In my scientific monograph A Break with the Old and the Beginning of Something New: Slovenian Economic Transition from Socialism to Capitalism (1990-2004), ¹ published in 2012, I analytically interpreted the process of transformation of the Slovenian economy in the years between 1990 and 2004, extracted its basic characteristics and highlighted its agents and results that enabled a faster catching up with the developed world than initially expected. The subject in question had not previously undergone an in-depth historical analysis and thus represented a logical continuation of previous research in the field of historiography, which ended in 1991. The work in which I discussed the transformation of the Slovenian economy into a capitalist system places this process, which is probably the most crucial one after the independence of Slovenia, in a broader social context. This work was recognized by the Scientific Council for the Humanities of the Slovenian Research Agency as an outstanding scientific achievement in 2012, and in 2014, I received the Ervin Dolenc Award for the best debut in historiography. The copies of the book in question, published by the Razpoznavanja/Recognitiones Publishing House of the Institute of Contemporary History, are practically sold out, and the logical consequence is that I try to publish it in English in an adapted and supplemented version from today's perspective, with the aim of bringing the still current topic of economic transition on the Slovenian case closer to a foreign reader. As a starting point to the reading of the book and in connection with its provocative title, I will quote Jeffrey Sachs, who, among other things, advised the first Slovenian government and who recently, during his visit to Slovenia, expressed his opinion in an interview for the Večer newspaper: “I rank Slovenia among the most successful countries in the world in terms of the standard of living, life expectancy and low level of inequality. In fact, you have no good reason to complain. You have a wonderful country that is peaceful and stable, and you live in prosperity, especially in comparison with the year 1991. I consider Slovenia a great story of success and an important part of Europe. It is also an excellent example. However, wages in Slovenia are not at the level of Switzerland, of course.” According to Sachs, Switzerland has been the largest tax haven in the world for more than a century, which is why it is a very rich country; this is also partly due to exploiting the gaps in the global order that came with globalization. “I would not recommend Slovenia to imitate Switzerland. I would also no longer recommend Switzerland to continue its path as a tax haven”, he added meaningfully.²

3I thank the reviewers, Dr. Jure Gašparič, a senior research associate at the Institute of Contemporary History, and Dr. Dušan Nečak, a retired full professor of general contemporary history at the Department of History and former dean of the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana. Thanks to all those who have contributed to the publication of this book - Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), the Institute of Contemporary History, Slovenska matica and the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). Special thanks to the director of ZRC SAZU, Dr. Oto Luthar, and the ZRC Publishing House as the project leader. I would also like to thank Studio Moderna SA for their help in publishing this book. I wish you a pleasant reading.