Miguel Boyer
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Miguel Boyer (5 February 1939 – 29 September 2014) was a Spanish economist and politician, who served as minister of economy, treasury and commerce from 1982 to 1985.


Early life and education

Boyer was born in St. Jean de Luz, France, on 5 February 1939. He was a graduate of the
Universidad Complutense de Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid ( es, Universidad Complutense de Madrid; UCM, links=no, ''Universidad de Madrid'', ''Universidad Central de Madrid''; la, Universitas Complutensis Matritensis, links=no) is a public research university lo ...
where he studied economics. He also received a degree in physics from the same university.


Career

Boyer worked at different banks and institutions. He served as the director of planning for the Unión Explosivos Río Tinto and later as a senior economist at the Bank of Spain. He became the deputy director of the national industrial institute and then the director of the institute in 1974. Next he worked at the state-owned hydrocarbons institute. He was one of the Ibercorp shareholders. He joined the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
as part of its social democrat wing in 1960. He helped
Felipe González Felipe González Márquez (; born 5 March 1942) is a Spanish lawyer, professor, and politician, who was the Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) from 1974 to 1997, and the 3rd Prime Minister of Spain since the ...
to form a faction in the party in the mid-1970s. Boyer was a member of the
Spanish Congress of Deputies The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palace of the Parliament () in Madrid. It has 350 members elect ...
, representing Jaén Province, and economic spokesperson of the party. He and
Carlos Solchaga Carlos Solchaga (born 28 March 1944) is a Spanish economist, businessman and politician, who served in different capacities at various Spanish cabinets. Early life and education Solchaga was born in Tafalla in 1944. He holds a bachelor's degree ...
were the architects of the party's economy policy. Boyer was appointed minister of economy, treasury and commerce to the first cabinet of Felipe González on 2 December 1982. In 1985, he developed a tax act that enabled people to avoid tax on saving interest if they invested in insurance accounts. During his term he was regarded as the most powerful member of the cabinet. However, in a cabinet reshuffle in July 1985 Boyer was removed from office and was succeeded by Carlos Solchaga in the post. It was speculated that Boyer was forced to resign due to his clash with Deputy Prime Minister Alfonso Guerra. In addition, Boyer attempted to increase his power in the cabinet and demanded to assume the post of second vice prime minister, also leading to his forced resignation. Shortly after leaving office Boyer was named as the chief executive of the Banco Exterior de Espana and next of the investment company, Cartera Central. In 1986, he was named member of the Abragam committee that oversaw the future structure of the
CERN The European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN (; ; ), is an intergovernmental organization that operates the largest particle physics laboratory in the world. Established in 1954, it is based in a northwestern suburb of Gene ...
. Until 1999 he served as a senior manager at the Spanish construction group FCC. From July 1999 to January 2005, he was the chairman of CLH, a Spanish fuel distribution company. In May 2010, Boyer was appointed board member to the Hispania Racing Team. He also assumed the post of finance director and advisor to the team. On 20 May 2010, he was also named as the independent member of the board of directors of Red Electrica Corporacion SA. In addition, he served as the head of Urbis.


Controversy

In February 1992, Boyer and
Mariano Rubio Mariano Rubio (14 November 1931–4 October 1999) was a Spanish economist who served as the governor of Bank of Spain in the period 1984–1992. He involved in a scandal known as Ibercorp incident and was forced to resign from the office. Early ...
, former
governor of the Bank of Spain The Governor of the Bank of Spain ( es, Gobernador del Banco de España) is the head of the Bank of Spain, the central bank of the Kingdom of Spain. The Bank of Spain is integrated in the European System of Central Banks and, as such, the Governor ...
, were accused of
fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...
and share-price manipulation in relation to the Ibercorp. Boyer was not sentenced, but Rubio was sentenced to jail.


Views

In the 1970s, Boyer supported self-managing socialism. However, later he became known for his
orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...
, moderate and pragmatic approach to economy. Despite being a member of the socialist government, he adopted
neo-liberal Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...
views of economy when he was minister. In addition, he and his successor Carlos Solchaga did not fit into the party's projected socialist mould. They both implemented economic policies based the orthodox liberal ideas, and the social outcomes of these policies were largely neglected. Their priority was to reduce inflation, using steps to control the money supply, which reinforced the high levels of interest and a strong currency. Although Boyer's policy decreased the rate of inflation and government spending, Spain experienced the Europe's highest unemployment rate at about 20%. Boyer also encouraged the economic integration of Spain into the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
.


Personal life and death

Boyer divorced his first wife, gynecologist
Elena Arnedo Elena Arnedo Soriano (25 November 1941 – 7 September 2015) was a Spanish gynecologist, writer, and women's rights activist. Biography The daughter of feminist writer Elena Soriano, Arnedo was born in Madrid. Arnedo was the cousin of Leopoldo ...
, to wed a socialite,
Isabel Preysler María Isabel Preysler Arrastía (born February 18, 1951) is a Spanish-Filipina socialite and television host. She is the mother of singers Enrique Iglesias, Julio Iglesias Jr., journalist Chábeli Iglesias, Tamara Falcó y Preysler, 6th ...
, in 1987. Boyer's first wife, Elena Arnedo, was the cousin of Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo. Isabel Preysler was the former spouse of the singer
Julio Iglesias Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva (; born 23 September 1943) is a Spanish singer, songwriter and former professional footballer. Iglesias is recognized as the most commercially successful Spanish singer in the world and one of the top record ...
and Carlos Falcó, 5th Marquess of Griñón. They had a daughter, Ana Boyer. Boyer had also two sons and a daughter with his first wife. Boyer died of a
pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
after being admitted to the Ruber International Hospital in Madrid on 29 September 2014. He was 75.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyer, Miguel 20th-century Spanish economists 20th-century Spanish businesspeople 1939 births 2014 deaths Complutense University of Madrid alumni Economy and finance ministers of Spain Government ministers of Spain Members of the 1st Congress of Deputies (Spain) People from Saint-Jean-de-Luz Politicians from Madrid Spanish Socialist Workers' Party politicians Spanish socialites Spanish people of French descent