Martín Lousteau | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President of the National Committee of the Radical Civic Union | |
| Assumed office 17 December 2023 | |
| Preceded by | Gerardo Morales |
| National Senator | |
| Assumed office 10 December 2019 | |
| Constituency | City of Buenos Aires |
| National Deputy | |
| In office 10 December 2013 – 10 December 2019 | |
| Constituency | City of Buenos Aires |
| Argentine Ambassador to the United States | |
| In office 10 December 2015 – 3 April 2017 | |
| President | Mauricio Macri |
| Preceded by | Cecilia Nahón |
| Succeeded by | Fernando Oris de Roa |
| Minister of Economy and Production | |
| In office 10 December 2007 – 24 April 2008 | |
| President | Cristina Fernández de Kirchner |
| Preceded by | Miguel Gustavo Peirano |
| Succeeded by | Carlos Rafael Fernández |
| President of theBank of the Province of Buenos Aires | |
| In office 28 December 2005 – 9 December 2007 | |
| Governor | Felipe Sola |
| Preceded by | Jorge Sarghini |
| Succeeded by | Guillermo Francos |
| Minister of Production ofBuenos Aires | |
| In office 12 August 2005 – 28 December 2007 | |
| Governor | Felipe Sola |
| Preceded by | Gustavo Lopetegui |
| Succeeded by | Débora Giorgi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1970-12-08)8 December 1970 (age 54) Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Political party | Radical Civic Union(2017–present)[1] Independent(2005–2017) |
| Other political affiliations | Front for Victory(2007–2008) Broad Front UNEN(2013–2015) Evolution(2015–2019) Juntos por el Cambio(2019–present) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Gaspar Lousteau (b. 2013) |
| Alma mater | University of San Andrés London School of Economics |
| Occupation | Economist |
Martín Lousteau (born 8 December 1970) is an Argentine economist and politician of theRadical Civic Union (UCR). He is aNational Senator for theCity of Buenos Aires. Since 2023, he has been President of the UCR National Committee.
He wasMinister of Economy under the administration ofCristina Fernández de Kirchner, from December 2007 to April 2008. At the age of 37, he was the youngest person to occupy this office in more than five decades.[2]
Lousteau served as theArgentine Ambassador to the United States from 2015 to 2017.[3] In 2017, Lousteau joined theUCR but was not part ofCambiemos in theArgentine Congress.[4]
From 2013 to 2019, he was aNational Deputy, representingBuenos Aires. He resigned his bench at the Chamber of Deputies to be sworn in as Senator on 10 December 2019.[5]
Lousteau was born inBuenos Aires to Guillermo Lousteau Heguy and Mabel Gellón. He graduated fromColegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. He is aLicentiate in Economics (graduatedsumma cum laude from theUniversidad de San Andrés), and aMaster of Science in Economics (at theLondon School of Economics). He taught as a postgraduate professor at theUniversidad Torcuato Di Tella, and as graduate professor at theUniversidad de San Andrés.[6]
He is the author ofSin Atajos (No Shortcuts, 2005), a history of Argentina's economic crises, withJavier González Fraga;[7] andHacia un Federalismo Solidario (Towards a Cooperative Federalism), as well as specialized works and journalistic articles that have been published in Argentina and abroad. Lousteau had also been atennis instructor (which he quit because of an injury), and worked as awar correspondent inAfghanistan for the magazinesEl Planeta Urbano andLa Razón before theSeptember 11 attacks.[8]
Lousteau served as chief economist and later director of APL Economía, a consulting firm founded by former Central Bank PresidentAlfonso Prat-Gay, and went on to hold various public offices as well as positions in the private sector. He was appointed Adviser to the President of theCentral Bank of Argentina in 2003, for whom he designed abank matching scheme for the payment of thediscount window loans; and served in the Central Bank's Committee on Monetary Policy until 2004). He was appointed by GovernorFelipe Solá as Minister of Production ofBuenos Aires Province in 2005, and late that year was named Chairman of theBank of the Province of Buenos Aires and of its parent company, the BAPRO Group, where he served from 2005 until his designation as Economy Minister in December 2007. He later co-founded a business consulting firm, LCG, with Gastón Rossi.[6]
Lousteau was the first minister of economy ofCristina Fernández de Kirchner. There was a dispute in the cabinet at the time betweenJulio de Vido,Ricardo Jaime andGuillermo Moreno, andAlberto Fernández,Graciela Ocaña,Jorge Taiana andCarlos Tomada. Lousteau sided with Alberto Fernández, as he did not share the economic views of De Vido and Moreno. Fernández had promised him that both of them would be removed from government in a short time.[9] Lousteau wrote a report for the president on the figures of the national economy, praising several aspects of the tenure ofNéstor Kirchner, but warning about the growinginflation. This report was dismissed by Néstor Kirchner, who did not have an actual office but remained an influential figure. He also proposed to gradually reduce the subsidies to energy consumption, to eventually abandon thefixed price system established during the 2001 crisis. Cristina Kirchner did not support his proposal.[10]
The salient feature of his tenure was the controversy surrounding his decision to increase soybean export taxes, which were previously fixed at 35%, and to have them fluctuate in line with global prices for the crop.[11] This has been claimed as the major cause of theprotests in the Argentine countryside which took place in early 2008.[12] Lousteau was heavily involved in talks with farmers' leaders but was later sidelined.[13]
Lousteau was rumored as early as two months into his tenure to have declared his intention to resign as a result of disputes with fellow ministers, particularly Commerce SecretaryGuillermo Moreno.[14] He denied he would resign; but there was nevertheless continued speculation on his resignation or replacement in the wake of the agrarian crisis.[15] Lousteau resigned on 24 April 2008, with the tax agency chiefCarlos Fernández replacing him.[16]
According toThe Wall Street Journal, his brief tenure was clouded from the outset by interference from former PresidentNéstor Kirchner's allies. Lousteau's policy initiatives often seemed to be eclipsed by those of Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, a Kirchner loyalist described as "the administration's price policeman."[17]
Following his dismissal Lousteau contributed a weeklyopinion column for theconservative dailyLa Nación and published two best-selling books on economic theory and history,Economía 3-D (2011) andOtra vuelta a la economía (2012). He received aYale World Fellowship in 2012.[18]
Lousteau joined the UNEN coalition, led by the centristUCR, and was nominated to their City of Buenos Airesparty list forCongress in the2013 mid-term elections.[19] He was one of five UNEN candidates elected to Congress for the City of Buenos Aires; but ongoing differences with caucus leaderElisa Carrió led Lousteau to form his own faction (Suma + UNEN), joined by UNEN Congressmen relying in grassroots action in the UCR.[20][21]
He ran for mayor in 2015 backed bycentre-left coalition called ECO (Energía Ciudadana Organizada), and was narrowly defeated byHoracio Rodríguez Larreta.[22] In these elections,PRO was stronger in wealthier northern Buenos Aires, while ECO was stronger in the southern, poorer neighborhoods of the city.[23][24]
He was appointed ambassador of Argentina to the United States by presidentMauricio Macri in 2016, but he resigned the following year to run forNational Deputy in the 2017 Argentine mid-term elections.[25]
In2017 mid-term elections, Lousteau ran heading theEvolución, which included theRadical Civic Union and theSocialist Party. Despite coming in third with 12.3% of the vote, he and Carla Carrizo became National Deputies due to Argentina's proportional representation electoral system.[citation needed]
Martín Lousteau married television actressCarla Peterson inNew Haven, Connecticut, in September 2011, and the couple had a son in January 2013, Gaspar Lousteau.[26]
| Diplomatic posts | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Argentine Ambassador to the United States 2015–2017 | Succeeded by Fernando Oris de Roa |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Economy 2007–2008 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the National Committee of the Radical Civic Union 2023–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
