Dr. Mauricio Cárdenas joined the Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) in August 2019 as a visiting senior research scholar to lead a new research initiative focused on energy and climate policy in Latin America. Dr. Cárdenas previously served as a distinguished visiting fellow at CGEP.
As Colombia’s finance minister between 2012 and 2018 he handled the oil shock (which caused a 40 percent reduction in Colombia’s exports), implementing a successful adjustment program that preserved high investment rates and sharp reductions in poverty and inequality. Prior to the shock he had led a fiscal reform that cut payroll taxes, triggering an unprecedented increase in formal jobs. In addition to Finance, has been a minister in four other portfolios: Economic Development (Industry and Housing), Transport, Planning, Mines and Energy.
His academic experience is mostly associated with Fedesarrollo, where he has been twice executive director, and the Brookings Institution, where he has been senior fellow and director of the Latin America Initiative.
He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Cárdenas was an event speaker at the Dialogue.
