Carlos Solchaga (born 28 March 1944) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

economist, businessman and politician, who served in different capacities at various Spanish cabinets.

Early life and education

Solchaga was born in

Tafalla Tafalla is a town and municipality located in the province and autonomous community of Navarre, northern Spain. The Postal code is 31300. Tafalla is an industrial and agricultural town. It produces beef, mutton, pork and chicken. History Pr ...

in 1944. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics and business studies which he obtained from Madrid's

Complutense University The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university lo ...

in 1966. He received a master's degree from the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...

in 1971.

Career

Solchaga began his career at the

Bank of Spain The Bank of Spain ( es, link=no, Banco de España) is the central bank of Spain. Established in Madrid in 1782 by Charles III, today the bank is a member of the European System of Central Banks and is also Spain's national competent authority fo ...

. He was the economic studies manager and advisor at Banco de Vizcaya from 1976 to 1979. Then he served as a minister for trade of the Basque general council of Spain from 1979 to 1980. He was the member of the

Spanish Parliament The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house). The Congress of Deputies meets i ...

from 1980 to 1995, representing

Navarre Province Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, being part of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

. He was one of the party officials who developed the party's

neoliberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

economic program and was among right-wing leaders of the party. His first ministerial post was the minister for industry and energy, which he held from 1982 to 1985 in the

first cabinet First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: * World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

Felipe Gonzalez Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy p ...

. In a reshuffle of July 1985, Solchaga was appointed economy and finance minister to the

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

again led by Prime Minister Gonzalez. He replaced

Miguel Boyer Miguel Boyer (5 February 1939 – 29 September 2014) was a Spanish economist and politician, who served as minister of economy, treasury and commerce from 1982 to 1985. Early life and education Boyer was born in St. Jean de Luz, France, on 5 F ...

in the post. Solchaga resigned from office in July 1993 due to the scandal surrounded the activities of

Mariano Rubio Mariano Rubio (14 November 1931–4 October 1999) was a Spanish economist who served as the governor of Bank of Spain in the period 1984–1992. He involved in a scandal known as Ibercorp incident and was forced to resign from the office. Early ...

, the

governor of the Bank of Spain The Governor of the Bank of Spain ( es, Gobernador del Banco de España) is the head of the Bank of Spain, the central bank of the Kingdom of Spain. The Bank of Spain is integrated in the European System of Central Banks and, as such, the Governor ...

. The scandal is known as the Ibercorp case.

Pedro Solbes Pedro Solbes Mira (born 31 August 1942 in Pinoso, Alicante) is a Spanish economist. He was the president of FRIDE, Madrid-based think tank. Career While independent in the sense of not affiliated to any party, his various ministerial roles in S ...

replaced him as finance minister. Solchaga was named as the party's parliamentary leader in July 1993 after leaving office. However, following this period he was gradually marginalized from decision-making mechanism within the party and in 1994, he left the party. Solchaga was appointed chairman of the interim committee of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

in 1991. His term ended in September 1993, and the finance minister of Belgium,

Philippe Maystadt Philippe M.P.J. Maystadt (14 March 1948 – 7 December 2017) was a Belgian politician who served as Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Deputy Prime Minister. He was President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) from 2000 t ...

, succeeded him as chairman of the committee. Next Solchaga began to work in private sector. He has been the international consultant of the Solchaga and Recio Asociados since 1999. He is also the chairman of the Euroamerica Foundation and the vice-chairman of the Reina Sofia National Museum. He is on the board of several institutions, including PRISA and Renta Corporación.

Views

When they were in office both Solchaga and his predecessor Miguel Boyer implemented economic policies based the orthodox liberal ideas, and the social outcomes of these policies were largely neglected. Solchaga continued Boyer's moderation and orthodox economy approach. It was partly because they did not fit into the socialist mould the government projected. Their priority was to reduce inflation using steps to control the money supply, which reinforced the high levels of interest and a strong currency. In addition, like Boyer he objected the approach and views of

Alfonso Guerra Alfonso Guerra González (born 31 May 1940) is a Spanish politician. A leading member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), he served as vice president of the government (''vicepresidente del Gobierno'', i.e., equivalent to deputy pri ...

, deputy prime minister.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Solchaga, Carlos 20th-century Spanish businesspeople 20th-century Spanish economists 21st-century Spanish economists 21st-century Spanish businesspeople 1944 births Complutense University of Madrid alumni Economy and finance ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Living people Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 2nd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 3rd Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 4th Congress of Deputies (Spain) Members of the 5th Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Tafalla (comarca) Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Politicians from Navarre