Presidents and political leaders are often imprisoned because of the performance of an Economy Minister, their ideas or that of a deceased economist., as Lord Keynes said. This can happen both to the benefit of politicians and to their detriment.

An example of the first occurred in 1992 when Carlos Menem was asked for his opinion in polls that showed a decline in his image, to an extent it is less than his Minister of the Economy, Domingo Cavallo.

“I do not care”, Menem replied relating the measurements. Even the former president raised the ante when he said: “By the will of God, the image of the Minister of Economy continues to grow. I understand that this is the first case in the history of the country where such a situation has occurred. “

Cavallo’s plan worked in Menem’s favor. In 1995 he was re -elected, largely due to the stabilization in 1991. The minister eradicated inflation. The president took advantage of this.

The opposite case could be the one involving the current minister, Martín Guzmán. Leaders close to Cristina Kirchner, the vice president, said this week that the economist “completed a stage” and that “they ignored the electoral defeat”. Andrés Larroque, minister of Buenos Aires and general secretary of La Cámpora, went so far as to say “no one voted” to Guzman. Feeling of vice hurts.

Now, who voted for an Economy Minister?

The minister is chosen by the president. At most, many of them get votes but occupy executive or legislative positions. before or after passing through the fifth floor of the Palacio de Hacienda.

Cavallo, elected deputy in the 1980s and a member of Menem’s faction in the 1990s, garnered votes to return to the lower house after becoming economy minister. His image grew so sharply after the victory in lowering inflation, that in 1999 he garnered nearly 1,900,000 votes for president.

López Murphy and Lavagna are two more examples of similar journeys.

Cavallo got 1,937,544 votes in 1999. López Murphy, 3,348,427 and Lavagna, 3,402,981. One place is occupied by three: third place.

There are also cases of elected ministers winning. For example, the provincial governors of Buenos Aires, Antonio Cafiero and Axel Kicillof. Even Jorge Capitanich (he had a short -term role in the Treasury during the 2001 crisis), is now president of Chaco.

Kicillof got 5,274,511 votes in the Province in 2019. Now he has the ambition to run for president. Will he compete like Cavallo, López Murphy and Lavagna?

Then there is the case of the economy minister who participated in a presidential election and won. But without dominating the formula. This is the case of Amado Boudou (2011).

Finally, the list closes to ministers who participated in elections and got votes (indirectly) for a legislative position. These are the cases of Martín Lousteau, Antonio Erman González, Jesús Rodríguez and even López Murphy himself, who last year obtained wills to re -sit a seat in the Chamber of Deputies. Or the case of Alfonso Prat-Gay, who was first elected representative of the lower house and then appointed by Mauricio Macri as Minister of the Economy (Treasury and Finance in 2015).

Democracies do not vote for a Minister of the Economy, the head of a Central Bank or a group of economists to rule a country. They chose a president. And he appoints his trusted economist and team. Said like this, Larroque’s rule could mean arranging a separate electiononly to settle the economic leadership: who do you want to vote for as Minister of Economy?

In Argentina, a number of technicians and economic experts have become associated with the hands of presidents who are incapable of solving major macroeconomic problems and actually feeding them, aggravating them. They have not been able to correct the distortions inherited from previous administrations or dispel uncertainty. Many times it is believed that these teachers, the ministers of the economy, will help along the way, as guarantees of the stability sought, a kind of bridge or continuity between two presidents as with Lavagna in 2003: Minister of the Economy under Dualde and Néstor Kirchner. Argentina sent a signal that negotiations on holdouts and with the IMF that began in 2002 had a continuation beyond the change of government. Kirchner then decided there was no more continuity and Lavagna flew away.

“In mishiadura appeared the Ministers of the Economy. What is not very clear is whether the mishiadura brought the economy ministers or if the economy ministers brought the mishiadura! What happened is that we have been together for 30 years! ”Tato Bores said in 1990. Now there are 60. And if the solution is to vote for economy ministers, as Larroque thought?