Daniel Lacalle, Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma and Iván Espinosa de los Monteros
On 21 May 2025, the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised the dialogue "The New World Economic Order", in which the following participated Daniel Lacalle, Esperanza Aguirre and Gil de Biedma e Iván Espinosa de los Monteros on the occasion of the publication of Daniel Lacalle's latest work of the same title.
Daniel Lacalle D. in Economics, Chief Economist at Tressis S.V., professor of Global Economics at IE and IEB and investment fund manager. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid and a PhD Cum Laude from the Universidad Católica de Valencia. He is Chairman of the Instituto Mises Hispano, member of the Advisory Board of the Rafael del Pino Foundation and of ORFIN. He is also a member of the Academic Council of the International Freedom Foundation (FIL). His career in portfolio management and investment began at the hedge fund Citadel and continued at Ecofin Ltd. and PIMCO in the US and London. He is ranked number 5 in the Richtopia 2020 ranking of the world's most influential economists. He has been voted for five consecutive years among the top three managers in the Extel Survey, the Thompson Reuters ranking in the general strategy, oil and power categories. He writes a weekly column in El Español, and contributes monthly to CNBC and Bloomberg TV, as well as Antena 3, Cuatro, Telecinco, BBN Times, World Economic Forum, Hedge Eye, Epoch Times and Mises Wire, among others. Daniel Lacalle is the author of books on economics translated into several languages, including: "Nosotros los mercados", "Viaje a la libertad económica", "La gran trampa", "Libertad o Igualdad", and the latest, "Haz crecer tu dinero" (Deusto, 2022).
Esperanza Aguirre and Gil de Biedma (Madrid, 1952) holds a degree in Law from the Complutense University of Madrid and was admitted by competitive examination to the Corps of State Information and Tourism Technicians. She spent her early professional years in the Ministry of Culture. She began her political career in 1983 as a councillor in Madrid City Council, where she held various posts. In 1996 she was appointed Minister of Education and Culture. Between 1999 and 2002 she was President of the Senate, the first woman to hold this position. In 2003 she was invested President of the Community of Madrid, a position she held until 2012, leading important reforms in infrastructure, education and health. Between 2004 and 2016 she was president of the Partido Popular of Madrid. In 2015 she headed the PP's candidacy for the Madrid City Council as a mayoral candidate, and in addition to her political career, she is the author of several books on liberal thought and political current affairs.
Iván Espinosa de los Monteros holds a degree in Economics and Business Administration from ICADE and an MBA from The Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. He began his professional career in auditing firms (Arthur Andersen, now Deloitte), investment banking (Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, now Citibank) and strategic consulting (McKinsey & Company). Subsequently, he was an entrepreneur in various sectors and a real estate fund manager. He was co-founder and spokesman in Congress of Spain's third largest political party for five years. He has now returned to the private sector.
Summary:
On 21 May 2025, the Rafael del Pino Foundation organised the dialogue "The New World Economic Order" on the occasion of the publication of the latest work by the economist Daniel Lacalle, titled The new world economic order. The event was attended by the author, the former president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, and the economist and former MP Iván Espinosa de los Monteros. The meeting was moderated by María Gil de Biedma, director of the Foundation.
A combative work in defence of freedom
Esperanza Aguirre opened the event with a passionate speech in which she described the book as "exceptional", highlighting the soundness of Lacalle's economic analysis and his commitment to liberal principles. In her opinion, the author not only combines academic training and professional experience, but also writes with the desire to empower citizens in the face of the advance of interventionism and the "predatory state". Aguirre stressed that Lacalle proposes a "book of combat" in favour of individual freedom, private property and the free market, and against the recipes of "21st century socialism".
The importance of fighting the cultural battle
Iván Espinosa de los Monteros highlighted the author's ability to explain complex economic issues in a clear and accessible way. In a context marked by the growing interference of political power in individual freedoms, he defended the need to recover the active role of civil society. According to Espinosa, The new world economic order is a useful tool for rethinking the role of the citizen in liberal democracies and for promoting an alternative to growing global statism.
A critical analysis of global economic trends
Daniel Lacalle focused his intervention on denouncing the process of transformation that the international economic order has undergone in recent decades, especially through the ideological use of multilateral institutions. For Lacalle, the discourse of globalisation has been progressively instrumentalised to legitimise authoritarian practices under apparently consensual causes such as the environment or social justice. Against this, the economist defended the role of the entrepreneur, economic freedom and respect for the individual project as fundamental pillars of progress.
Lacalle warned of the risk of normalising phenomena such as unbankability, digital control of personal finances or censorship under the pretext of security or political correctness. Against this, he defended the need to recover the foundations of the liberal economy and warned about the effects of expansive fiscal and monetary policies that have increased the weight of the state to unsustainable levels.
A plea for individual freedom and responsibility
The event concluded with a common message from the speakers on the urgency of fighting the battle of ideas, constructively and openly, in the face of the threats to liberal democracies. The defence of private property, entrepreneurial freedom, judicial independence and the separation of powers were presented as essential elements of a new, truly liberal economic order, capable of guaranteeing prosperity and freedom for future generations.
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The Rafael del Pino Foundation is not responsible for any comments, opinions or statements made by third parties. In this respect, the FRP is not obliged to monitor the views expressed by such third parties who participate in its activities and which are expressed as a result of their inalienable right to freedom of expression and under their own responsibility. The contents included in the summary of this conference are the result of the discussions that took place during the conference organised for this purpose at the Foundation and are the sole responsibility of its authors.
