Eduard Punset i Casals[1] (Catalan pronunciation: [əðuˈart punˈsɛt], born in Barcelona, Spain, 9 November 1936) is a Catalan Spanish lawyer, economist, and scientific popularizer. He holds a degree in Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and a Master's in Economic Sciences from the University of London. He has been an economic writer for the BBC, economics director of the Latin American edition of the newsweekly The Economist, and an economist for the International Monetary Fund in the United States and Haiti. As a specialist on the impact of emerging technologies, Punset has been a consultant to COTEC, Advising Professor of International Marketing at ESADE, president of the Instituto Tecnológico Bull, Professor of Innovation and Technology at the IE Business School (formerly Instituto de Empresa) in Madrid, President of Enher, Deputy General Director of Economic and Financial Studies at the Banco Hispanoamericano, and Coordinator of the Strategic Plan for the Information Society in Catalonia.
Punset was elected to the Spanish Congress in 1982 as a Convergence and Union member for Barcelona province. He played a prominent role, as the Union of the Democratic Centre's Minister of Relations with the European Communities, when Spain opened its economy to the rest of the world. As financial advisor to the Government of Catalonia he took part in the implementation of the State of the Autonomies, and, as president of the European Parliament's delegation to Poland, he supervised part of the process of economic transformation undertaken in Eastern countries after the fall of the Berlin Wall. When Spain joined the European Union, Punset was elected to the European Parliament in representation of the Democratic and Social Centre in 1987 and 1989.
Punset is the author of several books on economic analysis and social thought. At present he is Professor of Science, Technology, and Society at the Faculty of Economics of the Chemical Institute of Sarrià (Ramon Llull University). Since 1996, he has directed and presented Redes [linked page in Spanish], a science programme based around interviews with leading scientists, aired on the TVE. He is also the president of the audiovisual production company smartplanet [linked page in Spanish] and Board member of Sol Meliá Hotels & Resorts.
Punset was diagnosed with lung cancer in November 2007.
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[This page is a translation of the Spanish Wikipedia entry].