Axel Kaiser (born 4 July 1981) is a Chilean writer, lawyer and

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

known for his work on

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics and civil liberties under the rule of law, with special emphasis on individual autonomy, limited governmen ...

and

free-market economics In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ot ...

. Kaiser is a member of the

Mont Pelerin Society The Mont Pelerin Society (MPS), founded in 1947, is an international academic society of Economist, economists, Political philosophy, political philosophers, and other Intelligentsia, intellectuals who share a classical liberal outlook. It is hea ...

and has published articles in

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

and other publications. He is also the author of several books, including ''The Tyranny of Equality'' and ''The Populist Deception''.

Biography

Axel Kaiser was born from Hans Christian Kaiser Wagner and Rosmarie Barents Haensgen, a German-Chilean family. His paternal grandparents were Rosemarie Wagner Schilling, a fourth-generation German-Chilean, and her husband, the German immigrant Friedrich Ernst Kaiser Richter, who defined politically as a

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

, arrived in Chile as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

from Wurtemberg in 1936, escaping

National Socialist Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

after

Adolf Hitler's rise to power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the ''German Workers' Party, Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Par ...

and before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, having foreseen its outbreak. He married his wife in April 1939 and settled in Villarrica in

Southern Chile Southern Chile is an informal geographic term for any place south of the capital city, Santiago, or south of Biobío River, the mouth of which is Concepción, about {{convert, 200, mi, km, sigfig=1, order=flip south of Santiago. Generally citie ...

, where he was eventually elected as the 9th mayor of the city, serving between May 1956 and October 1957. His father was active in the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

, serving as a youth leader. He is the brother of

Vanessa Kaiser Vanessa Olimpia Kaiser Barents-Von Hohenhagen (born 25 October 1977) is a Chilean columnist and politician who served as a councilwoman of Las Condes, since 2024 is member of the National Libertarian Party founded by her brother Johannes. Bio ...

, former scholar at the Universidad Autónoma de Chile and director of the libertarian think tank ''Centro de Estudios Libertarios'' and former councilor of Las Condes, he is also brother of Johannes Kaiser, a right-wing politician, current member of the

Chamber of Deputies of Chile The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of Chile's Bicameralism, bicameral National Congress of Chile, Congress. Its organisation and its powers and duties are defined in articles 42 to 59 of Chile's current Chilean Constitution of 1980, ...

, founder of the

National Libertarian Party The National Libertarian Party () is a far-right Chilean political party led by Johannes Kaiser. It was founded by five libertarian members of the national conservative Republican Party in the Chamber of Deputies. Its legalisation process by the ...

from Leif Kaiser, chairman of the Chilean National Rifle Association, along with three other less prominent siblings. He lived his childhood and adolescence in Villarrica with his brothers. While living in the Chilean capital, he completed a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

Universidad Diego Portales Diego Portales University (, UDP) is one of the first private universities founded in Chile and is named after the Chilean statesman Diego Portales. UDP has campuses in the Barrio Universitario de SantiagoA literal translation is the Santiago ...

. He qualified as a lawyer on 7 August 2007. In 2009, Kaiser won a

Fulbright Program The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

scholarship and travelled to Germany to pursue two master's degrees (

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in International Law, mention Investments, Trade and Arbitration and another in American Studies) and a PhD in American Studies in

Heidelberg University Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (; ), is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest unive ...

, with the thesis ''The American Philosophical Foundations of the Chilean Free Market Revolution''. Back in Chile, he was a full professor at

Universidad del Desarrollo Universidad del Desarrollo (Spanish: ''Universidad del Desarrollo'') is a Chilean private university. Its main campus is in Santiago de Chile, with a secondary campus in Concepción. History The University was founded in Concepción in 1990, ...

and the Universidad de los Andes, where he taught a course on Latin American Politics. A 2017 poll by ''

La Segunda () is a Chilean afternoon daily newspaper, owned by El Mercurio SAP. Their tendency is conservative, is the first Chilean newspaper to disclose information that occurred in the morning because it is evening. Its time distribution is from 14:00 ...

'' ranked him among the most admired public intellectuals in Chile. Actress Susana Hidalgo alleged Kaiser used a

copyright A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive legal right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, ...

of hers without gaining permission by using one of her images of the 2019–2020 Chilean protests in the promotional posters of his talks in Mexico in February 2020.

Books

* ''El Chile que Viene'' (2007) * ''La Fatal Ignorancia'' (2009) * ''La Miseria del Intervencionismo'' (2012) * ''La Tiranía de la Igualdad'' (2015) * ''El Engaño Populista'' (2016), co-author with

Gloria Álvarez Gloria Álvarez Cross (born March 9, 1985) is a Guatemalan radio and television presenter, author, and libertarian political commentator. She is the host of the ''Viernes de Gloria'' radio program in Guatemala. Álvarez is also the program direct ...

* ''El Papa y el Capitalismo'' (2018) * ''La Neoinquisición'' (2020) * '' The Street Economist: Fifteen economic lessons every citizen should know (El Economista Callejero)'' (2021) * ''El odio a los ricos'' (2023), co-author with Rainer Zitelmann * ''Parásitos mentales: Siete ideas progresistas que infectan nuestro pensamiento y sociedad'' (2024),

Novels

* ''El libro de Asgalard'' ( Ediciones Minotauro, 2023),

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser, Axel 1981 births Academic staff of the University for Development Chilean anti-communists Chilean columnists Chilean libertarians Chilean non-fiction writers Chilean people of German descent Chilean political commentators Diego Portales University alumni Heidelberg University alumni Kaiser family Living people Mass media people from Santiago, Chile

Biography

Books

Novels

See also

References