As Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) continue to suffer the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the region faces an increasingly unstable geopolitical and economic environment. Amidst inflationary pressures and increasing fiscal debt, coupled with an economic slowdown, the volatility of food and oil prices, and a slowdown in foreign investment, what are the challenges and opportunities for the region? What role can LAC play in a multipolar world?
The Georgetown Americas Institute welcomed Mauricio Cardenas, professor of professional practice in global leadership at Columbia University, and former Colombian minister of finance, for a conversation with Alejandro Werner, founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute, on the future of LAC countries facing a polycrisis.
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Mauricio Cárdenas is professor of professional practice in global leadership at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and director of the master of public administration in global leadership. Cárdenas was energy minister and finance minister during the administration of former President of Colombia Juan Manuel Santos. He served in three other cabinet positions in previous governments (economic development, transport, and planning). He has twice been executive director of Fedesarrollo, Colombia’s leading policy research center, and senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Alejandro Werner is the founding director of the Georgetown Americas Institute and a non-resident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute. He recently completed almost nine years as director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the International Monetary Fund. Prior to that appointment, he was undersecretary of finance and public credit in Mexico’s Finance Ministry and held several positions in that ministry and the Central Bank. He also taught at leading universities in Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.A. in economics from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM).