Miguel Kast
{{Short description|Chilean economist (1948–1983)}}
{{family name hatnote|Kast|Rist|lang=Spanish}}{{Multiple issues|
{{More citations needed|date=January 2021}}
{{More footnotes|date=March 2019}}
{{Third-party|date=March 2019}}
}}
{{infobox officeholder
| image = Miguel Kast.jpg
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1948|12|18}}
| birth_place = Oberstaufen, Allied-occupied Germany
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1983|9|18|1948|12|18}}
| death_place = Santiago, Chile
| office = President of the Central Bank of Chile
| term_start = 23 April 1982
| term_end = 2 September 1982
| president = Augusto Pinochet
| predecessor = Sergio de la Cuadra
| successor = Carlos Cáceres Contreras
| office1 = Ministry of Labor
| president1 = Augusto Pinochet
| term_start1 = 29 December 1980
| term_end1 = 2 September 1982
| predecessor1 = José Piñera
| successor1 = Máximo Silva Bafalluy
| office2 = Head Ministry of the National Office of Planification
| president2 = Augusto Pinochet
| term_start2 = 26 December 1978
| term_end2 = 29 December 1980
| predecessor2 = Roberto Kelly Vásquez
| successor2 = Álvaro Donoso Barros
| alma_mater = {{Unbulleted list|Pontifical Catholic University of Chile (BA)|University of Chicago (MA)}}
| party = Christian Democratic Party (1960s)
| occupation = Politician
| profession = Economist
| relatives = Michael Kast (father)
José Antonio Kast (brother)
| children = Pablo (1973−)
Felipe (1977−)
| module =
{{Infobox economist
| embed = yes
| school_tradition = Chicago School (Chicago Boys)
| influences = Milton Friedman
}}
}}
Michael Kast Rist (18 December 1948 – 18 September 1983), commonly known as Miguel Kast, was a German economist of the Chicago Boys group. He served as Minister of State and President of the Central Bank under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In his youth, he was a member of the Christian Democratic Party.{{Cite web|url=https://interferencia.cl/articulos/el-origen-del-clan-de-los-kast-en-chile|title=El origen del clan de los Kast en Chile|publisher=Interferencia|first1=Manuel|last1=Salazar Salvo|date=15 June 2019|accessdate=3 December 2021}}
Early life
Kast was born to Michael Kast, a German lieutenant and Nazi{{Cite web|last=Berlin|first=Associated Press in|date=8 December 2021|title=Chilean presidential candidate's father was member of Nazi party|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/08/chile-jose-antonio-kast-father-nazi-party|access-date=21 December 2021|website=the Guardian|language=en}} who fled to Chile from Germany in 1950 after escaping American custody,{{Cite web|last=PIlleux Cepeda|first=Mauricio|date=16 January 2020|title=Kast|url=https://www.genealog.cl/Alemanes/K.html#KAST|access-date=18 November 2021|website=Genealog|language=es}} and Olga Rist, whom his father had met in Bavaria while on the run.
Political career
Upon getting his master's degree in economics at the University of Chicago, Kast joined Odeplan (1973), the state agency that led many public policy and economic changes after 1973. At Odeplan, Kast focused most of his energies on creating the "map of extreme poverty", which would become the cornerstone of Chile's social development programs. In 1978 he became the head of Odeplan and used his position to involve young professionals in the struggle against poverty by making them join Odeplan and by sending them to the country's outer regions to get insight into the real problems affecting Chile.{{cn|date=December 2021}}
In 1980, Kast became Labor Minister under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. In April 1982, aged 33, he became President of the Central Bank of Chile.{{cite web|url=https://www.bcentral.cl/documents/33528/42247/HistoricoAutoridades02042019.pdf|title=Nómina de autoridades del Banco Central de Chile desde su fundación|author=Banco Central de Chile|accessdate=1 May 2020|website=www.bcentral.cl}} This was a complicated moment in Chile's economy; the exchange rate was fixed at 39 pesos per dollar and Chile's large economic groups had liabilities with their own banks. As a central banker, he worked to reduce the level of related loans, which were loans made to the owners of the banks. He created a mechanism called the "Portfolio Sale" through which the Central Bank could buy high risk credits to commercial banks. By keeping a fixed exchange rate of 39 pesos per dollar, Kast hoped to protect local companies that had liabilities in dollars. However, the central authority saw otherwise. On 13 June 1982, the peso was devalued, which created a loss of international reserves. Kast decided in August 1982 to completely free the exchange rate, further devaluing the peso and bringing new intervention from the central authority. Under this new threat of instability, Kast resigned from the Central Bank on 2 September.
Kast left government life in late 1982 and dedicated himself to the business world and his professorship at Chile's Pontifical Catholic University. Around this time, he began to feel unwell, developing signs of physical weakness and a pale appearance. In January 1983 he was diagnosed with bone cancer, which claimed his life on 18 September 1983. He was 34 years old.Miguel Kast: Pasíon de Vivir, by Joaquín Lavín, Santiago, Chile; {{ISBN|956-7252-05-X}}
Family
Kast's sons, Felipe and Pablo Kast, as well as Kast's younger brother, José Antonio, are all active in political life.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kast, Miguel}}
Category:Presidents of the Central Bank of Chile
Category:20th-century Chilean economists
Category:German emigrants to Chile
Category:Naturalized citizens of Chile
Category:University of Chicago alumni
Category:Pontifical Catholic University of Chile alumni
Category:Christian Democratic Party (Chile) politicians
Category:Deaths from bone cancer