Un diplomático en el Ministerio de Economía: las ideas económicas de Rubens Ricupero
| Pages | 1023-1029 |
| Date | 01 September 2025 |
| Published date | 01 September 2025 |
| Author | Ivan Salomão,Leonardo Moraes,Oz Iazdi |
| Subject Matter | Ciencias sociales |
TELOS: Revista de Estudios Interdisciplinarios en Ciencias Sociales
ISSN 1317-0570 / ISSN (e) 2343-5763
Vol.
27
(3)
. Septiembre-Diciem bre
2025
1023
Universidad Privada Dr. Rafael Belloso Chacín, Venezuela
A DIPLOMAT AT THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE: RUBENS RICUPERO'S ECONOMIC IDEAS
Ivan Salomão
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5857-7505
Leonardo Moraes
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1566-1499
Oz Iazdi
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2027-4426
RECIBIDO: 20/06/2025 / ACEPTADO: 30/08/2025 / PUBLICADO: 15/09/2025
ABSTRACT
Rubens Ricupero was not only one of the most important Brazilian diplomats of the 20th century, but also a central figure in decisive
moments in the country's political and econo mic history over the last fifty years. In addition to representing Brazil in multilateral forums
such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD),
Ricupero was the Minister of Finance responsible for creating Brazil's most important monetary stabilization plan, the Real Plan. His
career in the Brazilian civil service allowed him to accumulate political experience and technical knowledge like few other Brazilian men
of his generation. Thus, this article aims to systematize and analyze his inte llectual trajectory and the main theoretical elem ents of his
economic thinking. To this end, primar y documents, academic articles and books, and material extracted fr om a face-to-face interview
conducted at his office in early 2020 were used. The article shows the eclecticism of his economic ideas, although one can note the
importance that Ricupero attaches not only to state action itself, but above all to the development of a welfare state capable of mitigating
inequalities and defending the environment, while ensuring the necessary conditions for capital a ccumulation.
Keywords: Rubens Ricupero, Diplomacy, Brazilian Economy, Economic Ideas, Real Plan.
Un diplomático en el Ministerio de Economía: las ideas económicas de Rubens Ricupero
RESUMEN
Rubens Ricupero no solo fue uno de los diplomáticos brasileños más impor tantes del siglo XX, sino también una figura central e n
momentos decisivos de la historia política y económica del país durante los últimos cincuenta años. Además de representar a Brasil en
foros multilaterales como el Acuerdo General sobre Aranceles Aduaneros y Comercio (GATT) y la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas
sobre Comercio y Desarrollo (UNCTAD), Ricupero fue el ministro de Finanzas responsable de crear el plan de estabilización monetaria
más importante de Brasil, el Plan Real. Su carrera en la burocracia estatal brasileña le permitió acumular experiencia política y
conocimientos técnicos como pocos otros brasileños de su generación. Por lo tanto, este artículo tiene como objetivo sistematizar y
analizar su trayectoria intelectual y los principales elementos teóricos de su pensamiento económico. Para ello, se utilizaron documentos
primarios, artículos académicos y libros, así como material extraído de una entrevista presencial realizada en su oficina a principios de
2020. El artículo muestr a el eclecticismo de sus ideas económicas, aunque se puede observar la importancia que Ricupero conce de
no solo a la acción del Estado en sí misma, sino sobre todo al desarrollo de un Estado del bienestar capaz de mitigar las desigualdades
y defender el medio ambiente, al tiempo que garantiza las condiciones necesarias para la acumulación de capital.
Palabras clave: Rubens Ricupero, Diplomacia, Economía Brasileña, Ideas económicas, Plano Real.
Introducción
Among the countless factors behind the engine of history, the economy has always been one of the most important cogs. But
while it is true that the organizatio n of the production and distribution of goods has in fact guided humanity's great transformations, we
cannot neglect the importance of elements tha t are difficult to rationalize and, for this reason, have less explanatory power. Political,
cultural, institutional, geographical, and biological issues have also guided the evolution of civilization (Diamond, 2017). As well as
chance, which is treated as a residue in predictive models but which has been as present in major social events as in all individual
trajectories.
Chance permeated the car eer of diplomat Rubens Ricupero, one of the briefest and most symbolically important finance
ministers ever to hold the post. From his unlikely appointment to his controversial resignation four months later, Ricupero was the m an
in charge of the Treasury when the most important milestone in the contemporary Brazilian economy was launch ed.
Rubens Ricupero was born in São Paulo on March 1, 1937, to a family of Italian immigrants who arrived in Brazil in 1895 at
the height of the late 19th-century migration. His roots in the Italian commun ity of Brás shaped his Catholic upbringing, which would
significantly influence his intellectual and social engagement in his Youth (Delgado & Moraes, n.d.).
Departamento de Economía, Universidad de São Paulo, Brasil. i vansalomao@usp.br
Instituto de Economía y Relaciones Internacionales, Universidad Federal de Uberlân dia, Brasil. lseguram@ufu.br
Departamento de Economía, Universidad Estadual de Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil. oz.iazdi@ uems.br
Cómo citar: Sal omão, I., Moraes, L., Iazdi, O. (2025). A Diplomat at the Mi nistry of Finance: Ru bens Ricupero's Economic Ideas. Telos: Revista de
Estudios Interdisciplinarios en Ciencias Sociales, 27(3), 1023-1029. www.doi.org/10.36390/telos273.22
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeUnlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations
Unlock full access with a free 7-day trial
Transform your legal research with vLex
-
Complete access to the largest collection of common law case law on one platform
-
Generate AI case summaries that instantly highlight key legal issues
-
Advanced search capabilities with precise filtering and sorting options
-
Comprehensive legal content with documents across 100+ jurisdictions
-
Trusted by 2 million professionals including top global firms
-
Access AI-Powered Research with Vincent AI: Natural language queries with verified citations