Roberto Alemann
Encyclopedia
Roberto Alemann is an Argentine lawyer, economist, publisher and academic.
, Argentina
in 1922. His family, prominent German Argentines of Swiss extraction, had established the nation's premier German language daily, Argentinisches Tageblatt
, in 1874. He graudated from the Buenos Aires National College
in 1941, and from the University of Buenos Aires
with a Law Degree in 1947, and a Doctorate in Social Sciences, in 1952. Opposed to the populist policies of President Juan Perón
, he joined senior policy adviser Raúl Prebisch
's team following the 1955 coup
against Perón, and took part in negotiations leading to the first loans granted to the Argentine government by the Paris Club
of multilateral creditors.
Roberto Alemann co-founded the Asociación Argentina de Economía Política in 1957. The group prioritized dealing with structural inflation
over the monetarist
approach favored by more conservative policy-makers, such as Economy Minister Álvaro Alsogaray
, who was appointed to the post in 1959 without President Arturo Frondizi
's support. Frondizi, a proponent of developmentalism
, opposed Alsogaray's austerity
program, which brought down inflation, though at the cost of a severe recession in 1959. Alsogaray was replaced in April 1961 by Roberto Alemann. Alemann's structuralist approach complemented unofficial Frondizi point man Rogelio Frigerio
's policies well, as both focused on correcting the adverse effects of financing increasingly costly machinery imports with raw material exports of declining value (a terms of trade
problem common to developing countries), though conservative and military pressure resulted in his removal in January 1962.
Following his ouster, Alemann returned to the private sector as a lobbyist for Swiss banking giant UBS, and was also, from 1964 to 1973, Professor of Economic Policy at his alma mater (authoring a textbook in 1970). A right-wing economist appointed by a military dictatorship
installed in 1976 (José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
) implemented a sweeping program of financial deregulation
and free trade
which, in 1981, collapsed under the weight of a US$37 billion foreign debtmost of it a result of a wave of private currency speculation and government military spending.
Named Economy Minister by a new dictator, General Leopoldo Galtieri
, in December 1981, Alemann departed from his expansionist policies of twenty years earlier, and introduced his own austerity program: cuts in public sector spending, accelerated devaluation
of the peso
(which had already lost 75% of its value during 1981), and a mandatory wage freeze (amid 10% monthly inflation). He also attempted to repair relations with the International Monetary Fund
by proposing the privatization
of an array of State enterprises, and elicited signals of support from the Reagan administration
, but also triggered protest from labor unions, culminating in a massive, March 30, 1982, rally against Alemann by the General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
(CGT), then South America's largest trade union.
Ultimately, Gatieri's invasion of the Falkland Islands
, on April 2, derailed Alemann's rapproachment with U.S. and European creditors, and following Galtieri's defeat and subsequent resignation in June, Alemann was replaced; the economy, which had fallen 6% in 1981, fell by as much again in 1982 to its lowest level in a decade. He retired from public service, devoting his time to the Tageblatt as managing editor, and contributing occasional op ed columns in the centrist Clarín
. Continuing to lecture on economic policy matters, the octogenarian was assaulted at least twice after 2002, though he suffered only minor injuries.
Career
Alemann was born in Buenos AiresBuenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
in 1922. His family, prominent German Argentines of Swiss extraction, had established the nation's premier German language daily, Argentinisches Tageblatt
Argentinisches Tageblatt
Argentinisches Tageblatt is a German-language weekly newspaper published every Saturday in Buenos Aires, Argentina....
, in 1874. He graudated from the Buenos Aires National College
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the tradition of the European gymnasium it provides a free education that includes classical languages such as Latin and Greek. The school is one of the most prestigious in Argentina...
in 1941, and from the University of Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires
The University of Buenos Aires is the largest university in Argentina and the largest university by enrollment in Latin America. Founded on August 12, 1821 in the city of Buenos Aires, it consists of 13 faculties, 6 hospitals, 10 museums and is linked to 4 high schools: Colegio Nacional de Buenos...
with a Law Degree in 1947, and a Doctorate in Social Sciences, in 1952. Opposed to the populist policies of President Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, he joined senior policy adviser Raúl Prebisch
Raúl Prebisch
Raúl Prebisch was an Argentine economist known for his contribution to structuralist economics, in particular the Singer–Prebisch thesis that formed the basis of economic dependency theory. He is sometimes considered to be a neo-Marxist though this label is misleading...
's team following the 1955 coup
Revolución Libertadora
The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...
against Perón, and took part in negotiations leading to the first loans granted to the Argentine government by the Paris Club
Paris Club
The Paris Club is an informal group of financial officials from 19 of some of the world's biggest economies, which provides financial services such as war funding, debt restructuring, debt relief, and debt cancellation to indebted countries and their creditors...
of multilateral creditors.
Roberto Alemann co-founded the Asociación Argentina de Economía Política in 1957. The group prioritized dealing with structural inflation
Structuralist economics
Structuralist economics originated with the work of the Economic Commission for Latin America and is primarily associated with its director Raul Prebisch and Brazilian economist Celso Furtado. Key to structuralist analysis is the idea that the structural features of developing economies need to be...
over the monetarist
Monetarism
Monetarism is a tendency in economic thought that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. It is the view within monetary economics that variation in the money supply has major influences on national output in the short run and the price level over...
approach favored by more conservative policy-makers, such as Economy Minister Álvaro Alsogaray
Álvaro Alsogaray
Álvaro Carlos Alsogaray was an Argentine politician and businessman. Minister of Economy during much of the 1959-62 period, he was one of the principal proponents of economic conservatism in modern Argentina.-Early career:...
, who was appointed to the post in 1959 without President Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi
Arturo Frondizi Ercoli was the President of Argentina between May 1, 1958, and March 29, 1962, for the Intransigent Radical Civic Union.-Early life:Frondizi was born in Paso de los Libres, Corrientes Province...
's support. Frondizi, a proponent of developmentalism
Developmentalism
Developmentalism is an economic theory which states that the best way for Third World countries to develop is through fostering a strong and varied internal market and to impose high tariffs on imported goods....
, opposed Alsogaray's austerity
Austerity
In economics, austerity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to...
program, which brought down inflation, though at the cost of a severe recession in 1959. Alsogaray was replaced in April 1961 by Roberto Alemann. Alemann's structuralist approach complemented unofficial Frondizi point man Rogelio Frigerio
Rogelio Frigerio
Rogelio Frigerio was an Argentine economist, journalist and politician.-Background and early career:Rogelio Frigerio was born in Buenos Aires in 1914 to Gerónimo Frigerio and Carmen Guanzaroli...
's policies well, as both focused on correcting the adverse effects of financing increasingly costly machinery imports with raw material exports of declining value (a terms of trade
Terms of trade
In international economics and international trade, terms of trade or TOT is /. In layman's terms it means what quantity of imports can be purchased through the sale of a fixed quantity of exports...
problem common to developing countries), though conservative and military pressure resulted in his removal in January 1962.
Following his ouster, Alemann returned to the private sector as a lobbyist for Swiss banking giant UBS, and was also, from 1964 to 1973, Professor of Economic Policy at his alma mater (authoring a textbook in 1970). A right-wing economist appointed by a military dictatorship
National Reorganization Process
The National Reorganization Process was the name used by its leaders for the military government that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. In Argentina it is often known simply as la última junta militar or la última dictadura , because several of them existed throughout its history.The Argentine...
installed in 1976 (José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz
José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz was an Argentine executive and policy maker. He served as Minister of the Economy under de facto President Jorge Rafael Videla between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy during the self-styled National Reorganization Process military dictatorship.-Early...
) implemented a sweeping program of financial deregulation
Big Bang (financial markets)
The phrase Big Bang, used in reference to the sudden deregulation of financial markets, was coined to describe measures, including abolition of fixed commission charges and of the distinction between stockjobbers and stockbrokers on the London Stock Exchange and change from open-outcry to...
and free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
which, in 1981, collapsed under the weight of a US$37 billion foreign debtmost of it a result of a wave of private currency speculation and government military spending.
Named Economy Minister by a new dictator, General Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Galtieri
Leopoldo Fortunato Galtieri Castelli was an Argentine general and President of Argentina from December 22, 1981 to June 18, 1982, during the last military dictatorship . The death squad Intelligence Battalion 601 directly reported to him...
, in December 1981, Alemann departed from his expansionist policies of twenty years earlier, and introduced his own austerity program: cuts in public sector spending, accelerated devaluation
Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency
The following table contains the monthly historical exchange rate of the different currencies of Argentina, expressed in Argentine currency units per United States dollar...
of the peso
Argentine peso ley
The peso ley 18.188, usually known as either peso or, to distinguish it from the earlier peso moneda nacional, informally as peso ley, was the currency of Argentina between January 1, 1970 and May 5, 1983. It was subdivided into 100 centavos. Its symbol was $, sometimes $L. Its name comes from law...
(which had already lost 75% of its value during 1981), and a mandatory wage freeze (amid 10% monthly inflation). He also attempted to repair relations with the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
by proposing the privatization
Privatization
Privatization is the incidence or process of transferring ownership of a business, enterprise, agency or public service from the public sector to the private sector or to private non-profit organizations...
of an array of State enterprises, and elicited signals of support from the Reagan administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
, but also triggered protest from labor unions, culminating in a massive, March 30, 1982, rally against Alemann by the General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)
The General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic is a national trade union centre of Argentina founded on September 27, 1930, as the result of the merge of the USA and the COA trade union centres...
(CGT), then South America's largest trade union.
Ultimately, Gatieri's invasion of the Falkland Islands
Invasion of the Falkland Islands
The Invasion of the Falkland Islands may refer to:*The Re-establishment of British rule on the Falklands , which is described in Argentina as an invasion.*The 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands....
, on April 2, derailed Alemann's rapproachment with U.S. and European creditors, and following Galtieri's defeat and subsequent resignation in June, Alemann was replaced; the economy, which had fallen 6% in 1981, fell by as much again in 1982 to its lowest level in a decade. He retired from public service, devoting his time to the Tageblatt as managing editor, and contributing occasional op ed columns in the centrist Clarín
Clarín (newspaper)
Clarín is the largest newspaper in Argentina, published by the Grupo Clarín media group. It was founded by Roberto Noble on 28 August 1945. It is politically centrist but popularly understood to oppose the Kirchner government...
. Continuing to lecture on economic policy matters, the octogenarian was assaulted at least twice after 2002, though he suffered only minor injuries.