Axel Kicillof

Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires Province since 2019.

From 1984 to 1989, Kicillof attended the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires.

From 1989 to 2001, he was an outspoken critic of neoliberalism in Argentina.

From 1990 to 1995, he studied at the Faculty of Economic Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires (UBA).

He graduated magna cum laude, receiving a Degree in Economics with a focus on the public sector.

He was the top student in his class of 122.

Between 1990 and 1995, Kicillof worked in various advisory capacities for National Motor Vehicle Transport Commission (CONTA), Tintorerías Ecológicas Dolphin System, the Eduardo Sívori Museum (pro bono), Transportes Vidal S.A., SARTOR S.A., CALED S.A., Molinari S.A., Clínica Cirugía Plástica, Centro Médico Bacigaluppi, Center for Education on Sexuality Research and Therapy (CETIS), Center for Urology and Male Health (CEUSA), among other clients.

He was a part-time financial and information systems manager at the Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Allergies in 1990–95.

He served as research assistant (1993) and junior economist at the Inter-American Center for Macroeconomic Studies from 1994 to 1995 and concurrently served as adviser on the National Commission for Promotion and Development of Patagonia in 1994.

In 1995–96, he served as adviser to the Undersecretariat of Technical Administrative Coordination in the Secretariat of Social Development.

From 1997 to 2005, he pursued graduate studies at UBA, receiving a Doctorate in Economics.

His doctoral dissertation, later published as a book, was titled Génesis y estructura de la Teoría General de Lord Keynes (Genesis and Structure of the General Theory of Lord Keynes).

At university, Kicillof was a prominent student leader.

He was the head of the student organization Tontos pero No Tanto (TNT, Spanish for Dummies but Not That Much) and was also a member of the Kirchnerist youth group La Cámpora, now headed by Máximo Kirchner.

As a student leader, he was "acclaimed by students like a rock star."

In 1997, he acted as technical consultant to the Minister Secretary General of the Executive Branch in connection with the development of the government's social plan for 1998–2000.

In 1997–1998, he was a consultant to the consulting firm M-Unit.

Kicillof was an adjunct professor in the Faculty of Economic Sciences at UBA from 1998 to 2010.

While he was a professor, Kicillof was noted for his anti-Kirchner, Keynesian writings on the website of CENDA (the Center for Argentine Development, a think tank that he headed).

Some of these writings were later removed from the site.

In 1998 he was a Project Manager for AperNet.

In 2003, Kicillof became the first head teaching assistant and later regular adjunct professor of economics II in the sociology track.

He also taught economics at the Escuela Superior de Comercio Carlos Pellegrini, the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, and the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento.

At the postgraduate level, Kicillof was professor of economics in the masters and doctoral programs for social sciences at the Institute of Economic and Social Development at the Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento (UNGS-IDES).

In the Latin American Social Sciences Institute (FLACSO), he was the Professor of History of Economic Thought in the masters program for Public Policy for Development with Social Inclusion.

Earlier, Kicillof taught economics in the masters and doctoral programs for Political Economics with the Argentinian Economy, specializing in two subjects, the History of Economic Thought and Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Fundamental Concepts of the Political Economy.

Kicillof also taught a course entitled "Differentiation of Capital in the Field of Health" in the faculty of economics at the University of Buenos Aires.

At the Center of Studies for the Planning of Development (CEPLAD) at the Institute of Economics Research (University of Buenos Aires), he was appointed the deputy director and served from 2006 to 2010.

In 2009–2010, he served as CFO for Aerolíneas Argentinas in connection with the formulation of its business plan for 2011–2014.

According to El País, he was one of several former TNT members who joined the management team of the newly nationalized airline.

Since November 2010, Kicillof has been an assistant researcher for CONICET.

Kicillof was appointed deputy general manager of Aerolíneas Argentinas in 2011.

Described by his biographer as "the economic guru who captivated Cristina Kirchner", Kicillof was instrumental in the 2012 renationalization of the energy firm YPF.

Kicillof also served as Argentina's Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015 under the presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

It was on his advice that Fernández de Kirchner decided not to meet holdout bondholder demands to be repaid what they were owed in 2014.

The decision was supported by among others the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the G-77 (133 nations), the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Bankers Association, and bondholders whose payments were stopped by the 2014 ruling.

Kicillof has been a firm believer in Keynesian economics, and an avid admirer of the Kirchners since his student days when he was a member of the pro-Kirchner youth group La Cámpora and head of the radical student group TNT.

A longtime professor of Economic Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires and outspoken critic of the neoliberal policies of the Kirchners' predecessors, he is known for his unorthodox haircut and dress code, signifying his anti-establishment views.

Kicillof is the second child of three siblings born to psychologist Nora Barenstein and psychoanalyst Daniel Kicillof, both non-practicing Ashkenazi Jews; Kicillof was raised in the neighborhood of Recoleta.

His father committed suicide when Kicillof was 22.