José Luis Machinea
PEOPLE PROFILE is published every Tuesday and describes the professional background of key people emerging in the political and economic scenario.
Who is José Luis Machinea?
He is the new executive director of the Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (Cepal - the UN Economic Comission for Latin America and the Caribbean), challenged with promoting the social and economic development of the countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Why watch him?
José Luis Machinea, Argentina's former economy minister under the government of Fernando de la Rúa, took over at Cepal against the wishes of Argentina's current president, Néstor Kirchner, who holds him responsible for the financial debacle in Argentina in 2001 that led to the downfall of the de la Rúa administration. Elsewhere, there was unqualified support for Machinea.
Born: 5 October 1946
Place of birth: Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Education: Economist at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, with a doctorate from the University of Minessota.
Public life:
He was president of the Argentine central bank during the country's first democratic government after the military dictatorship (1976-83). During the Alfonsín administration, Machinea was one of the most influential economists in the ruling party.
Timeline
1985-1988: President of Argentine central bank.
1992-1997: Director of investigation at the Instituto de Desarrollo Industrial de la Unión Industrial Argentina
1998: The Alianza is formed. A coalition comprising the Partido Radical and Frepaso, the two principal opponents of the Menem administration, which was defeated in the 1999 presidential elections. Machinea is named Alianza's chief economist.
1999-2001: Economy minister in the Alianza government under Fernando de la Rúa. Machinea decided to keep the peso tied to the dollar despite the country's problems with sustaining this.
2001-2003: Principal advisor to the president of the IDB, Enrique Iglesias, in Washington.
2003: Iglesias proposes him for the Cepal position.
2004: Assumes the executive directorship of Cepal despite Kirchner's objections.
Strong points:
He is a talented economist and has strong contacts with international financial organisations such as the IMF, the World Bank and the IDB. He enjoys widespread support, especially outside of Argentina. He is hardworking and should help Cepal come up with some alternative economic paradigms to replace the neoliberal dogma of the 1990s.
Weak points:
His period as economy minister in Argentina is a black mark on his record; imposing taxes on the middle and upper classes prolonged the recession that had been affecting Argentina since 1998. Machinea was afraid to remove the dollar peg, which ultimately led to the social and economic nightmare of 2001.
Prospects:
Despite Kirchner's opposition to his nomination, Machinea will enjoy solid support. He is a capable negotiator and is aware that Cepal needs to increase its influence over Latin American governments on a practical level, moving away from the academic profile it has cultivated in recent years.