The Current State of Democracy and Economic Freedom

A new Catalinas Forum took place at CADAL’s head office with the aim of presenting the 30th edition of the Perspectiva magazine and an analysis of the “Political and Economic Trends in Latin America” and “The way restrictions on economic freedom affect growth in Argentina”. The event was sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and its guest speakers were Carlos Sabino, sociologist and visiting professor from the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala, and the economist Miguel Braun, Executive Director of Fundación Pensar.

A new Catalinas Forum took place at CADAL's head office with the aim of presenting the 30th edition of the Perspectiva magazine and an analysis of the "Political and Economic Trends in Latin America"  and "The way restrictions on economic freedom affect growth in Argentina". The event was sponsored by Konrad Adenauer Foundation, and its guest speakers were Carlos Sabino, sociologist and visiting professor from the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala, and the economist Miguel Braun, Executive Director of the Fundacion Pensar.

The Forum began with a presentation by Carlos Sabino on the “Political and Economic Trends in Latin America”. Sabino graduated in sociology and is a Doctor in Social Sciences. He is a visiting professor at the Francisco Marroquín University in Guatemala and a member of CADAL’s Academic Council. He has also formerly occupied the post of senior lecturer at the School of Social Sciences and Sociology at the Central University in Venezuela. Some of his publications are: Empleo y Gasto Público en Venezuela (Employment and Public Spending in Venezuela); De Cómo un estado Rico nos Llevó a la Pobreza (How a Rich State Led us to Poverty); El Fracaso del Intervencionismo en América Latina (The Failure of Interventionism in Latin America); Desarrollo y Calidad de Vida (Development and Quality of Life); Todos nos equivocamos (We all Make Mistakes); and Guatemala, dos Paradojas y una Incógnita (Guatemala: 2 Paradoxes and an Open Question).

Miguel Braun followed with an analysis on “The way restrictions on economic freedom affect growth in Argentina”. Braun hold a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the San Andrés University and obtained a Phd in Economics at Harvard University. He was a co-founder and Executive Director of CIPPEC and is currently Executive Director at Fundación Pensar. He worked as a consultant for IADB, the World Bank, UNICEF, ECLAC and the Argentine Ministry of Finance on tax policy projects. He has also co-written Macroeconomía Argentina (Argentine Macroeconomy). He taught Public Finances at the Buenos Aires and Torcuato di Tella universities, and Macroeconomics at the San Andrés University.