Government sources revealed that the Bogota philosopher, economist and researcher Jorge Ivan Gonzalez will be the new director of the National Planning Department (DNP), after César Ferrari’s appointment was ruled out due to an impediment regarding his nationality.
(César Ferrari’s appointment as director of the DNP falls).
González’s name began to sound within the files of President Petro after Ferrari’s candidacy was rigged.
The one who would be the director of the DNP was part, in the last campaign for the Presidency, of the team that built the programmatic proposal of today’s president Gustavo Petro, which was also made up of Ricardo Bonilla and Daniel Rojas.
His name was even sounding among the deck of candidates that the President had for the Ministry of Finance. Petro even mentioned his name as a possible head of that portfolio. Also on that list were former ministers Rudolf Hommes, Alejandro Gaviria, José Antonio Ocampo (today minister of the Treasury portfolio), Luis Jorge Garay, among others.
González and Petro have known each other for a long time. In fact, the designated director of National Planning accompanied him in the mayor’s office of Bogotá (2012 – 2014). He was part of the team of experts that the then president of the city had. He was an advisor to the firm.
González was born 69 years ago in the capital of the country and is married to Edna Bonilla Sebá, current Secretary of Education of Bogotá, with whom he shares the care of four children.
Those who know Jorge Iván González say that he is a “very rigorous” academic, who is always reading about the theories of classical thinkers and philosophers and Nobel laureates, and frequently discusses them with his friends and students. In fact, among the closest people they call him the ‘Sage’.
(The main needs to be solved by the new DNP).
“He is a very simple man, nothing pedantic or petulant. He talks to everyone and expresses his opinions without shame, that makes him a very particular person”pointed out one of his ex-students at the Externado and today an Economics professor on that campus.
Among the country’s economists they have him as a reference and highlight his position on the need to carry out comprehensive reforms in tax and fiscal matters, which is in line with the approach of the government of Gustavo Petro.
“He has always been a critic of traditional economic theories”comments an Externado teacher.
When González participates in forums, his presence is remarkable. His generous contributions, his openness to discussion and listening to ideas is what stands out to him most by those who have shared this type of space with him.
“He is a person who is very open to listening, to reflection, to generating consensus and thinking about problems in the light of experiences, theories and evidence. He is very technical and will be very important for the challenges of the current government”, noted a renowned economist.
The designated director of Planning has been linked to the Externado University of Colombia since the early 1980s, where he is considered one of the most brilliant professors. With some intermittents he has been a professor of macroeconomics in the Faculty of Economics of that cloister. At this university he has published articles and books, among which ‘Sentiments and rationality in economics’ stands out.
At the National University of Colombia he was dean of the Faculty of Economic Sciences (1993 – 1996) and for six years he directed the Research Center for Development (CID) of said Faculty. There he taught advanced macroeconomics and choice and welfare theory.
“My main research topics are: fiscal policy, macroeconomics, collective choice, urban dynamics and quality of life, transport tariffs, educational efficiency, ethics and economics”, González writes in his profile on the Externado website.
This economist with a master’s degree in economics from the Universidad de los Andes and a doctorate in economics from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium)where his thesis was on public finances, he also studied topics related to urban dynamics and the quality of life of families.
(The impediment that would complicate possession of the appointed director of the DNP).
He has also been a professor at the Universidad de Los Andes, where he taught fiscal policy, and a visiting professor at the University of Toronto.
He is a full member of the Colombian Academy of Economic Sciences and in 2016 he was recognized as an emeritus researcher by Colciencias. Between 1977 and 1980 he was a researcher at the Center for Research and Popular Education (Cinep). He was also a researcher at the Europe-Japan Economic Research Center (Euro-Jerc), at the University of Leuven.
González has consulted nationally and internationally in various fields. This is how he directed the United Nations Human Development Report for Bogotá and participated in the National University team that evaluated the metro project for Bogotá.
With information from THE TIME
