Miguel Boyer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Miguel Boyer
Miguel Boyer in 1983
Minister of Economy, Treasury and Commerce
In office 1 December 1982 – 6 July 1985
Prime Minister	Felipe González
Preceded by	Jaime García Añoveros
Succeeded by	Carlos Solchaga
Personal details
Born	Miguel Boyer Salvador 5 February 1939 St. Jean de Luz, France
Died	29 September 2014(2014-09-29) (aged 75) Madrid, Spain
Nationality	Spanish
Political party	Socialist Party
Spouses	Elena Arnedo ​ ​ (m. 1964; div. 1985)​ Isabel Preysler ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	4
Alma mater	Complutense University of Madrid

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 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 its director in 1974. Next he worked at the state-owned hydrocarbons institute. He was one of the Ibercorp shareholders.

He joined the Socialist Party as part of its social democrat wing in 1960. He helped Felipe González to form a faction in the party in the mid-1970s. Boyer was a member of the Congress of Deputies, representing Jaén Province, and economic spokesperson of the party. He and Carlos Solchaga 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. 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.

Views

In the 1970s, Boyer supported self-managing socialism. However, later he became known for his orthodox, moderate and pragmatic approach to economy. Despite being a member of the socialist government, he adopted neo-liberal 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.

Personal life and death

Boyer divorced his first wife, gynecologist Elena Arnedo, to wed a socialite, Isabel Preysler, 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 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 after being admitted to the Ruber International Hospital in Madrid on 29 September 2014. He was 75.

See also

In Spanish: Miguel Boyer para niños