Paulo Roberto Nunes Guedes (born 24 August 1949) is a Brazilian economist and co-founder of the investment bank

BTG Pactual BTG Pactual is a Brazilian financial company that operates in the markets of investment banking, wealth management, asset management, corporate lending and sales and trading. It offers advisory services in mergers and acquisitions, wealth plan ...

. He is also a co-founder of the think-tank

Instituto Millenium The Instituto Millenium (Millennium Institute), also known by the acronym Imil (or IMIL), is a Brazilian " advocacy think tank" based in Rio de Janeiro. It was created in 2005 by the economist Patrícia Carlos de Andrade and the Philosophy profes ...

, and was the economic advisor for the

campaign Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

of President Jair Bolsonaro. Guedes currently serves as the

Minister of Economics A ministry of finance is a part of the government in most countries that is responsible for matters related to the finance. Lists of current ministries of finance Named "Ministry" * Ministry of Finance (Afghanistan) * Ministry of Finance and Ec ...

in the Bolsonaro administration.

Biography

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Guedes attended the

Federal University of Minas Gerais The Federal University of Minas Gerais ( pt, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, UFMG) is a federalIn the Brazilian Higher Education context, ''Federal'' does not mean ''collegiate'' (even though most Federal Universities in Brazil enjoy a sim ...

as an undergraduate, and later received a master's degree in economics from the

Getúlio Vargas Foundation Getúlio may refer to: * Getulio Agostini (1943-1990), Venezuelan botanist * Getulio Alviani (1939-2018), Italian painter * Getúlio Côrtes (born 1938), Brazilian singer * Getúlio (footballer, 1947-2008), Getúlio Pedro da Cruz, Brazilian footba ...

. In 1974 Guedes moved with his wife to the United States to attend the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chic ...

. Then an advocate of

Keynesian economics Keynesian economics ( ; sometimes Keynesianism, named after British economist John Maynard Keynes) are the various macroeconomic theories and models of how aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) strongly influences economic output a ...

influenced by

Paul Samuelson Paul Anthony Samuelson (May 15, 1915 – December 13, 2009) was an American economist who was the first American to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. When awarding the prize in 1970, the Swedish Royal Academies stated that he " ...

and

Franco Modigliani Franco Modigliani (18 June 1918 – 25 September 2003) was an Italian-American economist and the recipient of the 1985 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics. He was a professor at University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Carnegie Mellon Un ...

, Guedes adhered to

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

while attending the University of Chicago, where he was taught by

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...

. His areas of academic focus included macroeconomics,

international commerce International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

and

econometrics Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships. M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," '' The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics'', v. 2, p. 8 p. 8 ...

. Guedes received his Ph.D. in 1978.Bloomberg profile, accessed 9 October 2018
/ref> In 1983 Guedes was one of the co-founders of Banco Pactual, now

, alongside André Jacurski and Luiz Cezar Fernandes. During the 1980s he was a professor of graduate economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and the National Institute for Pure and Applied Mathematics. During the

military dictatorship of Chile A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

, Guedes was a professor at the

University of Chile The University of Chile ( es, Universidad de Chile) is a public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. He is a co-founder of the

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

think-tank Millenium Institute. From 1983 to 1999 Guedes was executive director of

Ibmec Ibmec is a private research university with four campus in Brazil's main cities of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, and Brasília. Founded in 1970, it is one of Latin America's most prestigious business and economics school and today o ...

. Guedes was also a columnist for ''

O Globo ''O Globo'' (, ''The Globe'') is a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro. ''O Globo'' is the most prominent print publication in the Grupo Globo media conglomerate. Founded by journalist Irineu Marinho, owner of '' A Noite'', it was ori ...

'', ''

Folha de São Paulo ''Folha de S.Paulo'' (sometimes spelled ''Folha de São Paulo''), also known as simply ''Folha'' (, ''Sheet''), is a Brazilian daily newspaper founded in 1921 under the name ''Folha da Noite'' and published in São Paulo by the Folha da Manhã c ...

'' and ''

Exame ''Exame'' is a fortnightly magazine specializing in economics, business, politics and technology published by Editora Abril, in São Paulo, Brazil. It reports news, reviews and tips about business, sales, investments, economics, environment, techn ...

''. Guedes published a piece for the ''Globo'' newspaper in 2017 praising

Operation Car Wash Operation Car Wash ( pt, Operação Lava Jato) was a criminal investigation by the Federal Police of Brazil's Curitiba branch. It began in March 2014 and was initially headed by investigative judge in France, but unlike judges in the common law ...

and the judiciary's efforts to curb corruption and impunity. Guedes was partner and president at Bozano Investimentos until December 2018. On October 2, 2018, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) decides to probe Guedes on an accusation of fraud relative to the management of investment funds that were managed by him. Since 2009, those funds have received contributions amounting to one billion Brazilian Reals (BRL) from pension funds belonging to the Brazilian state including from funds of Previ, Banco do Brasil, Petros, Petrobras, Funcef, Caixa and Postalis (Brazilian Posts), that are being probed by several Federal Police task forces, including in the frame of Operation Greenfield, which activities focus on the investments in the Fundos de Investimentos nas Participações (FIP),. After having receiving funds from the BR Educational Fund, managed by Guedes, those were reinvested in a sole company, HSM Educacional S/A, that is also managed by Guedes. With the moneys HSM Educational bought 100% of another company, also managed by Guedes: HSM do Brasil S/A. The goodwill (acquisition gap corresponding to the excess over the real value of the company paid to buy it) amounted to 16,5 million Brazilian Reals. After the buyout, HSM do Brasil S/A started having recurring losses. According to the Public Prosecutor Office, the state owned pension funds that were mobilized by the Investment Funds managed by Guedes have lost 200 Million Dollars. Guedes has denied wrongdoing and said the investigation is politically motivated and "meant to confuse voters". In December 2018 the

Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...

accepted the MPF's request to open an investigation into Guedes's practices regarding pension funds. In October 2021, his name is mentioned in the

Pandora Papers The Pandora Papers are 11.9 million leaked documents with 2.9 terabytes of data that the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) published beginning on 3 October 2021. The leak exposed the secret offshore accounts of 3 ...

Politics

Guedes has never been affiliated with a political party,Paulo Guedes, o liberal do militar, Veja, accessed 9 October 2018
/ref> but in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

was responsible for the economic proposals of the campaign of liberal (classic liberal / libertarian) candidate Guilherme Afif Domingos for the presidency. In 2018 Guedes was named as the economic advisor for the

of Jair Bolsonaro in the 2018 presidential election. Guedes is the candidate's likely pick for Minister of Economics in a future cabinet. As Bolsonaro's economic spokesperson, Guedes has advocated for the

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

of several state-owned companies, and has defended some of the reforms of President

Michel Temer Michel Miguel Elias Temer Lulia (; born 23 September 1940) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and writer who served as the 37th president of Brazil from 31 August 2016 to 31 December 2018. He took office after the impeachment and removal from off ...

, such as limits to public spending and higher interest rates for loans from BNDES. Guedes supports a single, value-added federal tax instead of Brazil's current tax system. He also advocates for an income tax exemption of R$5,030, which is roughly five times the minimum wage in Brazil (as of 2019, the minimum wage in Brazil is R$998/month).Salário Minimo, accessed 5 January 2019
/ref> Guedes was confirmed as Bolsonaro's pick to head the Ministry of the Economics. Guedes's ministry encompasses treasury, planning, budgeting, industry, and commerce.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guedes, Paulo 1949 births Living people Finance Ministers of Brazil People from Rio de Janeiro (city) Brazilian economists University of Chicago alumni Fundação Getulio Vargas alumni People named in the Pandora Papers

Biography

Politics

See also

References