Biographies Latin America, the United States and Spain in the Global Economy Forum
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BIOGRAPHIES LATIN AMERICA, THE UNITED STATES AND SPAIN IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY FORUM LUIS DE GUINDOS Minister of Economy and Competitiveness, Government of Spain Luis de Guindos Jurado is a Spanish politician and the currently Minister of Economy and Competitiveness of Spain. He holds a Bachelor of Economics and Business at the Colegio Universitario de Estudios Financieros. He is since 2012 the current Minister of Economy and Competitiveness Acting Minister of Spain, and from Friday, April 15, 2016 he also assumes Affairs Ministry of Industry, Energy and Tourism. In December 1996, he was appointed General Manager of Economic Policy and Defense of Competition, and in May 2000 he was appointed Secretary General of esta same charge. He has been part of the Board of Renfe Between 1997 and 2000, the Official Credit Institute from 2000 to 2002, the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales in 2002, and the Secretary of State of Economy in the last government of José María Aznar (2002-2004). In 2004, he was responsible for the economic program that Mariano Rajoy was presented at the General Elections. Luis de Guindos is the Director of the Instituto de Empresa since 2010, Member of the Board of Directors of Endesa as an Independent External. De Guindos was the coordinator of the book promoted by the FAES Foundation in 2010. This book could be considered the basis of the ideological Economic Policy of the Popular Party and it moves between two fundamental areas: drastic cost containment in Public Administration and Reforms areas such as labor and financial sector. ALFONSO PRAT-GAY Minister of Finance of Argentina Alfonso Prat-Gay is Minister of Economy and Finance of Argentina. Previously, he was a National DDeputy from the city of Buenos Aires, President of the Central Bank of Argentina, and the President of Fundación Políticas de Gobierno, an organization that aims to formulate economic and social policies for both the city of Buenos Aires and the nation of Argentina. Prat-Gay earned a degree in Economics from the Universidad Católica Argentina in 1989, and obtained his master’s degree in 1994 at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was a PhD candidate. In 1994, Prat-Gay joined JPMorgan in New York and went on to work for the bank in its Buenos Aires and London branches until 2001. He co-founded APL Economía, an economic consulting firm. Page 1 of 13 In December 2002, at the age of 37, he was named President of the Central Bank of Argentina and served until September 24, 2004. He won the 2004 Euromoney Central Bank Governor of the Year award for his work for having reduced the inflation from 40% to 5% while maintaining an economic growth of 8%. After stepping down, he joined then the Civic Coalition and would have been economy minister had the party won the 2007 presidential election. In the 2009 congressional election, Prat- Gay led the Civic Coalition’s party list for the city of Buenos Aires and was elected by large majority. In Congress, he worked on projects such as increasing banking security, preventing money laundering and drug trafficking, and an extensive deregulation of the Argentine financial system. Prat-Gay is also chairman of Tilton Capital, an asset management company he co-founded in 2005, and president of the Fundación Andares para el Desarrollo de las Microfinanzas. KATHY HOCHUL Lieutenant Governor of New York Kathy holds a bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and a JD from Catholic University in Washington, DC. Call to Service Former Congresswoman Kathy Hochul enthusiastically accepted Governor Cuomo’s call to return to public service by running as his choice for Lt. Governor. She is currently traveling across New York, listening to the concerns of citizens, elected officials, small business owners and farmers. Once elected, Kathy plans to focus her attention on continuing the success of the Governor and work with the Regional Economic Development Councils to attract and retain business to create much-needed jobs, and address the skills gap to ensure our citizens, particularly in pockets of poverty, have access to the higher-paying jobs. She will partner with the Governor to promote his agenda to make New York the most progressive and fiscally sound State in the Nation. She will also continue the work she began as a Member of the House Armed Services Committee to help our returning veterans adapt to civilian life. Kathy will also champion the Women’s Equality Agenda to ensure the daughters of this State have the same rights as men, and that their unique challenges are addressed. If elected, Kathy will be the first female Democratic Lt. Governor since 1978. Tenure in Congress Kathy served in the House of Representatives from New York’s 26th Congressional District, where she earned a reputation for taking on the tough fights for Western New York and working with Democrats and Republicans to strengthen our economy, create good-paying jobs, relieve the burden of student debt, fight for farmers and small businesses, and take care of our veterans. She has a history of taking on rightwing extremists. Despite running in the most Republican district in the State, Kathy campaigned hard against the Paul Ryan budget and in support of Medicare. Her stunning victory was a national story and reinvigorated the Democratic Party. Page 2 of 13 According to the National Journal, “…Kathy Hochul’s win provided the Democrats with their first really good night in 3 years, and made Republicans squirm even more… Hochul’s hammering of Ryan’s Plan of converting Medicare to a voucher system struck fear in the hearts of a good chunk of the 235 Republicans who voted for the Ryan budget.” Hochul also attacked the cuts to education, R&D funding for Universities to nurture start-ups, food stamps and other measures to help our citizens in need. In Congress, she was supported by EMILY’s list, maintained a pro-choice record, and was targeted by the national Conservative media for her defense of the contraception mandate under the Affordable Care Act. Kathy advocated for marriage equality even when the idea did not receive support in her district, and she joined Democrats in signing a legal brief challenging the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Kathy maintained true to her labor roots in Congress, casting votes to support the working men and women of America. She was a frequent critic of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires and called for tax cuts for low and middle income earners. She was given a privilege usually reserved only for party leadership to give the closing argument against the Speaker Boehner debt ceiling bill during the summer of 2011, after being in Congress less than two months. Kathy was also the only Member of Congress outside the leadership to be invited to join the President before his September, 2011 outline of priorities for getting a Jobs Act through Congress. She publicly supported his plan for shifting tax advantages—from large companies to small businesses, to stimulate further job creation. Erie County Clerk Prior to her time in Congress, Kathy was the highest-ranking female elected official in Erie County while serving as County Clerk from 2007-2011. She has strong executive experience in overseeing a large bureaucracy, handling budgets, personnel and technology for seven DMV operations and the functions of the County Clerk’s office in a county of just under one million residents. During her tenure as Clerk, she successfully fought fee increases proposed for new license plates, stating that during the recession, people were struggling and should not have to endure higher fees. She was recognized for bringing innovative technology to the operations, creating among the first in the State, the ability for lawyers to file court pleadings online and paved the way for electronic filing of land records. Kathy dramatically improved the experience at the Department of Motor Vehicles, taking a customer-oriented approach while saving millions for her constituents. Hamburg Town Council In all of her positions in public office, including her 14 years as Town Councilmember, Kathy has always fought for the underdog, while demonstrating willingness to take on hard fights and challenge the status quo. The Buffalo News dubbed her the “stop the tolls pioneer,” for her years of fighting toll increases and the tolls themselves in a hard-hit, economically depressed area. Ultimately, the toll barriers around the City of Buffalo were removed. She fought to make the NYSDOT more responsive to local concerns, took on Exxon when Buffalo had the highest gas prices in the country in a time of Page 3 of 13 record corporate profits, CSX railroad, and large telecommunications providers and established strict laws on the placement of cellular towers – all while serving as a local Councilwoman. Capitol Hill Staffer Following law school and time at a large firm, Kathy gave up private practice for public service. Kathy was asked to serve as a legal counsel and legislative assistant to Congressman John LaFalce (D-NY) and later to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. While a staffer for Senator Moynihan, she worked on the last major immigration reform enacted — The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, which provided amnesty to over 7 million new Americans. She also had a major hand in drafting the $1.4 Billion Anti-Drug Bill of 1986, creating a formula to allocate almost one quarter of the funds to NYS—primarily for prevention and treatment programs for crack cocaine and heroin users in NYC. Kathy also drafted a major campaign finance reform bill which would have provided public financing for federal races to remove the influence of money and equalize the access to elective office.