Carlos Rodriguez Braunprofessor of the history of economic thought and renowned liberal of Argentinian origin, gave an interview to OKDIARIO to talk about his new book, Milei’s thoughtsin which he reveals that he is a former professor of the current Governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá. The author wanted to evaluate the appointment of the former minister as head of the central bank. He considers this to be state interference, but only a little more “egregious” than what has happened so far.
The liberal considers that former Spanish presidents, like Felipe Gonzalez, They have already taken measures similar to those taken by the current President of the Government, Pedro Sanchez. However, the former Escrivá professor believes that the current socialist executive is taking measures that had not been taken before.
Question.- What do you think of Escrivá’s appointment and Sánchez’s institutional assault?
Answer.- You have to put things into perspective. There was a wonderful Spanish actress named Gila who had lived in Buenos Aires for years. I saw it on TV in the late 60s and early 70s. One of the lines Gila says is. Africa is like your vegetable garden, but in a wild way. Well, this government is like all governments, but in a brutal way. I mean, they all always had interference in institutions. We already have huge states. The tradition of playing with institutions is very old.
It is now said that it is a scandal that Pedro Sánchez manipulates the Constitutional Court. Hey, Felipe González did it with Rumasa too. And that was in 83. What did Pedro Sánchez have? Which is more brazen, more insolent, more silent. But hey, all the states in the world manipulate everything that is possible. They cook beans everywhere.
It is true that Pedro Sánchez goes even further. Let’s think for example of the CIS. What happened to the CIS? It had an extraordinary reputation, thanks to very competent and relatively independent people, and is now considered an appendage of the government. The jokes are already made: “Hey, you’re like Tezanos.” It becomes an integral part of popular language. Likewise, when there is an upward update in growth figures, one immediately suspects that something strange is happening.
Escrivá’s former professor and his appointment
Let’s finish with the Central Bank. Let’s see, the independence of central banks is always a bit relative. Central banks are political creatures. They were invented and created by States to finance themselves. Since the Central Bank and the State monopolize the currency, if they devalue it, as is the case for example in Argentina, this politically delegitimizes the leaders and the organization.
You must feel that, in the case of currency, I’m not going to rob you like I would if inflation were very high. Basically, I always think it’s nostalgia for the gold standard, that is, nostalgia for the idea that the currency is safe because politicians don’t get their hands dirty with it. Well, the truth is, yes. The truth is that they put a lot of effort into it. In this case, it’s not: “Oh, what a scandal! “The government is attacking the governor.” Politics has always been involved in the designation, in Spain and in all countries around the world.
Let us not think that this is a unique or particularly serious disaster as far as Spain is concerned. What is this? The same as before. It’s one more step, we don’t keep in shape. I won’t say anything more about Escriva because it turns out he’s a former student of mine. It is very difficult for me to criticize a former student.
