Ricardo Hipólito López Murphy (born 10 August 1951) is an

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

economist, academic and politician. He served as

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and Minister of Economy during the presidency of Fernando de la Rúa. His time at the helm of the economy portfolio lasted only 15 days, as he was forced to leave office after announcing an unpopular

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

plan. Since 2021, he has been a National Deputy elected in Buenos Aires for the Juntos por el Cambio coalition. He was chairman of Liberal Network for Latin America, an association of institutions to promote liberalism. Currently, he chairs the think tank Republican Civic Foundation. Originally a member of the centrist

Radical Civic Union The Radical Civic Union ( es, Unión Cívica Radical, UCR) is a centrist and social-liberal political party in Argentina. It has been ideologically heterogeneous, ranging from social liberalism to social democracy. The UCR is a member of the So ...

(UCR), López Murphy describes himself ideologically as a republican liberal. Since 2020, he has chaired his own political party, United Republicans.

Early years

López Murphy was born in Adrogué,

Buenos Aires Province Buenos Aires (), officially the Buenos Aires Province (''Provincia de Buenos Aires'' ), is the largest and most populous Argentine province. It takes its name from the city of Buenos Aires, the capital of the country, which used to be part of th ...

of Basque and Irish descent. He was named Ricardo after Argentine politician Ricardo Balbín (who was his godfather) and Hipólito after

radical Radical may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Radical politics, the political intent of fundamental societal change *Radicalism (historical), the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and ...

president Hipólito Yrigoyen. He attended the National University of La Plata, where he was awarded the title degree in Economics, comprising four years of study in 1975. He then obtained a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1980.

Private sector

In his professional activity he worked as a consultant and economic advisor to companies, international investors and financial institutions in Argentina and Latin America. He was a consultant to the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

, World Bank, International Monetary Fund and chief economist of the Latin American Economic Research Foundation. He received the Konex Prize in 1996.

Minister of Defense

In 1999, he entered politics when he was appointed

as a member of the

(UCR). He remained in this position until 2001 when he briefly took the position of Minister of Economy in the

government of Argentina The government of Argentina, within the framework of a federal system, is a presidential representative democratic republic. The President of Argentina is both head of state and head of government. Executive power is exercised by the President. ...

Minister of Economy

Enjoying little political support from President, Fernando de la Rúa, he was fired within two weeks after a wave of protest over his proposed fiscal austerity project, by which he sought to prevent the 2001 economic crisis but which sharply cut education spending.

Politics

He founded a conservative liberal political party, Recreate for Growth (RECREAR), in 2002, and ran for the presidency in the April 2003 elections, finishing third behind

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

and Néstor Kirchner, with 16.3% of the popular vote. López Murphy won abroad. He was the favorite of the hundreds of Argentines who voted in the United States, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil. He later teamed with Mauricio Macri in 2005 to create a new center-right coalition called Republican Proposal (PRO), which tacitly supported his unsuccessful second bid to the presidency in the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

. López Murphy did poorly, gaining just 1% of the vote; PRO, however, did somewhat better in provincial and congressional elections, and won the mayoral election in Buenos Aires that year. He left RECREAR in April 2008, citing differences over

party list An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can ...

strategy, and in December established Federal Convergency. He ran for Mayor of Buenos Aires in 2011 on this ticket, but obtained only 1.4% of the vote.

Personal life

López Murphy is married with three children. López Murphy is often referred to in the media as "the Bulldog", a nickname he has come to embrace himself. He is described as an economist with a graduate degree from the University of Chicago, a militant Catholic and a fan of San Lorenzo de Almagro. He is against gay marriage, decriminalization of drug use, and abortion. He has called himself "an Alem and Alberdi liberal".

I follow the Argentine liberal tradition of uan BautistaAlberdi, eandroAlem and arcelo T.Alvear. I am very proud of that. My ascription to liberal theories is not economic. That is a minor issue. I am part of a philosophical and moral tradition that has to do with defending the division of powers, controlling whoever exercises power, ensuring equality before the law and preventing someone from claiming the project of my happiness. With having the freedom and autonomy to decide my own future. I think it is very bad that the defense of liberal ideas is in charge of economists, because in general they start on the wrong side.

References

External links

BullblogCorriente Convergencia Federal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez Murphy, Ricardo 1951 births Living people People from Adrogué Argentine people of Basque descent Argentine people of Irish descent National University of La Plata alumni Argentine economists Argentine Ministers of Finance Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires Candidates for President of Argentina Radical Civic Union politicians Republican Proposal politicians Recreate for Growth politicians Defense ministers of Argentina Articles containing video clips Argentine anti-communists Conservatism in Argentina