Adalbert Krieger Vasena (1920 in Buenos Aires – 15 June 2001) was an
Argentine economist who served twice as
Minister of Economy of the country, first between 1957 and 1958, during the military dictatorship of
Pedro Aramburu, and later between 1966 and 1969 during the military dictatorship of
Juan Carlos Ongania.
Adalbert Krieger Vasena was the grandson of Pedro Vasena (Pietro Vassena), an Italian blacksmith and entrepreneur immigrated in Argentina in the second half of the 19th century.
In the first decade of the 20th century, the Vasena family was the head of the largest steel company in Argentina.
Minister of Economy
He decreed a wage freeze and a 40%
devaluation
In macroeconomics and modern monetary policy, a devaluation is an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange-rate system, in which a monetary authority formally sets a lower exchange rate of the national curre ...
, which weakened the
economy
An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the ...
– in particular the agricultural sector – and favored foreign capital. Vasena suspended
collective labour conventions, reformed the "hydrocarbons law" which had established a partial monopoly of the ''
Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales'' (YPF) state firm, and passed a law facilitating the
eviction
Eviction is the removal of a tenant from rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosed by a mortgagee (often, the prior owners who defaulted on a mortgag ...
of tenants over their non-payment of domestic rent. Finally, the
right to strike
Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the In ...
was suspended (Law 16,936) and several other laws passed reversing previous progressive
labor legislation (reducing retirement age, etc.).
1920 births
People from Buenos Aires
University of Buenos Aires alumni
Argentine Jews
Argentine people of Turkish-Jewish descent
Argentine Ministers of Finance
2001 deaths
Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery
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