Alberto Ullastres (15 January 1914 – 15 November 2001) was

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

's minister of economy (1957–1965) and ambassador to the

European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organisation created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

(1965–1976) under

General Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general and dictator who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republ ...

. He pushed forward the so-called

Stabilization Plan The Stabilization Plan of 1959 () or the National Plan of Economic Stabilization () were a series of economic measures taken by the Spanish Government in 1959. Its main goal was the economic liberalization of the Spanish markets, marking a turni ...

which brought about Spain's transition from economic autarchy to liberalization and internationalization of the national economy, an economic success which has been called the

Spanish miracle The Spanish miracle () refers to a period of exceptionally rapid development and growth across all major areas of economic activity in Spain during the latter part of the Francoist regime, 1959 to 1974, in which GDP averaged a 6.5 percent gr ...

. Ullastres was part of the so-called "''Opusdeistas''" – ministers under Franco who were also members of the

Opus Dei is an institution of the Catholic Church that was founded in Spain in 1928 by Josemaría Escrivá. Its stated mission is to help its lay and clerical members seek holiness in their everyday occupations and societies. Opus Dei is officially r ...

organisation.

Life

He was born in

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

on 15 January 1914 and died in Madrid on 15 November 2001. He studied

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

and

commerce Commerce is the organized Complex system, system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions that directly or indirectly contribute to the smooth, unhindered large-scale exchange (distribution through Financial transaction, transactiona ...

. He obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Madrid. He was university professor ('' catedratico'') for

political economy Political or comparative economy is a branch of political science and economics studying economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and national economies) and their governance by political systems (e.g. law, institutions, and government). Wi ...

Economic studies and work

Because of the so-called

, which has been attributed to him and the other Spanish technocrats, Ullastres has been counted among the "great economists". He studied the economic doctrines of the

School of Salamanca The School of Salamanca () was an intellectual movement of 16th-century and 17th-century Iberian Scholasticism, Scholastic theology, theologians rooted in the intellectual and pedagogical work of Francisco de Vitoria. From the beginning of the ...

of the 16th and 17th centuries, especially the doctrine of

Juan de Mariana Juan de Mariana (2 April 1536 – 17 February 1624), was a Spanish Jesuit priest, Scholastic, historian, and member of the Monarchomachs. Life Juan de Mariana was born in Talavera, Kingdom of Toledo. He studied at the Complutense University ...

and of Martín de Azpilcueta. In an article "The Awakening Land", ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' magazine attributed Spain's economic modernization to him: "On a hot July day in 1959, Ullastres announced a sweeping stabilization plan. Credit was tightened, the budget slashed, the peseta devalued to a realistic 60 to the dollar. With the aid of a $400 million international loan, Ullastres threw open Spain's doors to imports necessary to rebuild its economy. And over the howls of government protectionists, he pushed through a series of measures to encourage foreign investors to enter Spain. The success of the stabilization plan was miraculous. By 1963 Spain had $1.1 billion in foreign reserves and a booming economy.""The Awakening Land"
''

''. January 21, 1966. (archived fro
the original
June 22, 2008)

References

Opus Dei members 1914 births 2001 deaths Spanish economists {{Spain-politician-stub