Pedro Vuskovic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pedro Vuskovic Bravo (February 25, 1924 – May 10, 1993) was a Chilean economist, political figure, minister and author of the economic plan implemented by Salvador Allende during his government.

He was born in Antofagasta, and obtained a degree in bussiness administration from the Universidad de Chile. He became a professor of Statistics at the same university, while at the same time working for the CEPAL (United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean). He was the author of the Economic platform of the Popular Unity (UP) campaign, and on November 3, 1970, he was named the first Economics Minister by president Allende. He became the key figure in the economic policy of the UP government, and he tried to implement a massive redistribution of revenue (see Vuskovic plan) by raising salaries and increasing public expenditure, through which he believed that the buying power of the population would increase and accordingly consumption in general.

He remained as a minister until June 17, 1972. Subsequently he was named Executive Vice President of the Production Development Corporation (CORFO). After the Chilean Coup of 1973, he was exiled to Mexico. There he became a professor, director of the Latin American Economic Studies Institute of the CiDE (Center for Economic Research and Studies) and researcher for the Center for Humanities Research (CiiH) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

After the return to democracy in 1990, he returned to Chile for a short while but moved back to Mexico where he lived his last years. He died in 1993.