Axel happens to be the Christian name of a certain Argentinian of Ashkenazy Jewish descent as some claim, whose Slavic surname of Kiciloff others maintain is either Bulgarian or Russian, depending from which Black Sea littoral his ancestors migrated to the New World. This writer's penchant towards the retro world, was what reminded me of that movie icon from the fifties, James Dean, when I started seeing photos of Axel Kiciloff. His sharp youthful looks, coupled with his casual rockabilly sartorial style, I think were the two things that most reminded me of "Rebel Without a Cause" Dean, but the similarities real or imagined, I'm afraid end right there.
Argentina's jeans clad "K Factor", is symbolically linked to the letter K in various and sundry ways. Starting with his surname, as well as his Keynesian tendencies, we could add to this one-letter alphabet soup his unabashed zeal as a "kirchnerista", a groupie of the late Argentinian president Nestor Kirchner's anti-neoliberal policies. His more recent two year tenure as Minister of Economics under ex-President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, undoubtedly is the icing on the cake of Kiciloff's "K Factor" credentials.
Kiciloff is atypical from whichever angle you eyeball him. He is a man of simple tastes, but one who preaches economics to the crowds in an understandable didactic style, and instantly connects with the masses like a pop icon to crowds of up to 10,000, as recently witnessed on December 20, 2015 at a public park in Buenos Aires.
In a constantly troubled world where those responsible for economic policy are increasingly unpopular, Kiciloff is a rarity who could almost compete with celebs, as he goes about the task of preaching economics in person to his attentive crowds, and tweets online to his more than 164,000 followers. Kiciloff is the antithesis of Western bureaucrats still clinging to the dubious virtues of the so-called "free market", even years after the 2007-2008 debacle that thrust capitalism into its permanent and structural crisis, affecting virtually the entirety of the Western World.
Axel Kiciloff was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 25, 1971, to a Jewish middle class family. He did his high school equivalency studies, at the "Colegio Nacional Buenos Aires", a 100-year old highly competitive and elite state institution, arguably the best of its kind at the national level in Argentina.
He went on to study economics at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), receiving his Doctorate in Economics with a grade of ten, the maximum possible. His doctoral thesis reflects his character. Many aspiring to a Ph. D. degree might choose a rather unknown subject for their thesis, in order to throw off somewhat those evaluating the thesis. Kiciloff however plunged himself into an area well known by all: "Genesis and Structure of Lord Keynes General Theory." His thesis passed with the maximum possible grade.
Kiciloff is atypical from whichever angle you eyeball him. He is a man of simple tastes, but one who preaches economics to the crowds in an understandable didactic style, and instantly connects with the masses like a pop icon to crowds of up to 10,000, as recently witnessed on December 20, 2015 at a public park in Buenos Aires.
Axel Kiciloff was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, September 25, 1971, to a Jewish middle class family. He did his high school equivalency studies, at the "Colegio Nacional Buenos Aires", a 100-year old highly competitive and elite state institution, arguably the best of its kind at the national level in Argentina.
He went on to study economics at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), receiving his Doctorate in Economics with a grade of ten, the maximum possible. His doctoral thesis reflects his character. Many aspiring to a Ph. D. degree might choose a rather unknown subject for their thesis, in order to throw off somewhat those evaluating the thesis. Kiciloff however plunged himself into an area well known by all: "Genesis and Structure of Lord Keynes General Theory." His thesis passed with the maximum possible grade.
Our casually attired Argentinian K Factor also comes wrapped up with a complete package of accessories on the international scene, boasting a plethora of books, essays, articles and other publications under his authorship. As one starts glancing over this long reading list, you quickly get the drift that Kiciloff is of heterodox and Neo-Keynesian tendencies.
When he was nominated to his Minister of Economics position by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, it unleashed a knee jerk reaction from the Argentinian "Clarin" mainstream media holdings, which has functioned as a de facto opposition political party to "kirchnerismo" in the country. Kiciloff was accused of many ludicrous things. As though still petrified in the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, the nefarious Clarin MSM group said that he "originated from Marxism", as though it were some sort of a geographical location or city, lending a sort of MacArthyite tone to the infantile accusations.
Being Jewish as well as a "peronista" (follower of the historical and legendary figure of the late President Juan Domingo Peron), and a so-called "Marxist" (but in reality a Neo-Keynesian), Minister Kiciloff sported more of a youngish rockstar aura, a baby faced 44 year old who looked much younger. This in turn generated even more disparate criticism from these so-called "independent media", which in reality were militant anti-President Cristina Fernandez political sectors. Not content with absurd accusations, the so-called "free press" of Argentina, even came up with the outlandish charge that he had pocketed a millionaire's salary for advising the state's flag carrier "Aerolineas Argentinas", though it was soon proven that Kiciloff had performed those professional services gratuitously. Those unfounded charges caused our dauntless "K Factor", to have to put up one time with demeaning insults as he traveled by ferry with his family to neighboring Uruguay. Unfounded insults notwithstanding, they are more than compensated by the immense popularity that Kiciloff enjoys from vast sectors of the population. Alex Kiciloff can be usually seen in public wearing jeans and a dark polo shirt, casually strolling through his Buenos Aires neighborhood on his way to shop for groceries like another regular Joe, and you will see him wear the same set of unassuming blue collar attire, whenever he takes part in a "kirchnerista" political rally.
Among his accomplishments in his two year tenure as Economics Minister, Kiciloff achieved some noteworthy goals. When he took over the Ministry, inflation was rising in Argentina, but he was able to reverse the trend and bring it down throughout 2015, or at least until the present neoliberal and right wing government of President Macri assumed power, when the previous policies began to be reversed, with the predictable consequences of higher prices in consumer goods. He also designed a program called "Precios Cuidados" or "sheltered prices", which was an agreement with production companies and sellers of consumer items, foodstuff primarily, so the suppply of items would be offered at lower prices, and this in turn stimulated producers with liberated prices, to moderate increases in order to sell these staples. Another of his successes was the "PROCREAR" housing plan. This was a state-sponsored program of affordable credits for housing construction and ownership, which not only solved an acute demand for homeownership, but it also stimulated the job intensive construction industry.
Among the feathers in his cap, we may also include his notorious donnybrook, with the arbitrary and capricious rulings of the pompous U. S. District Court in New York, which was attempting to arbitrate and legislate from the bench, in favor of the notorious "vulture funds." And even though perhaps the rulings of crusty federal judge Griesa might've not been overturned, the Argentinian government's fight against those planetary predators provoked changes in international finance legislation, both at the UN and IMF levels. It was at this time, that international media began calling this new international finance architecture, the "Kiciloff Doctrine."
On December 20, 2015, our rockabilly and maverick ex-minister, was the star speaker at a multitudinous "kirchnerista" rally held at Buenos Aires's "Parque Centenario", criticizing the draconian neoliberal plans, being promulgated by executive decree from newly elected president Mauricio Macri. This mass gathering estimated at over 10,000, was coordinated via Facebook and Twitter, with such hashtags as #ResistiendoConAguante and #HablaKiciloff (we're holding on and resisting, and Kiciloff speaks), as well as via Whatsapp, with its resulting heavy trending and live tweeting. Argentinian cyberactivists also streamed this event live via the interactive media of Fastest Tube You Tube downloader tool, archived later here. This writer witnessed heavy viewer activity and social chat participation at this time, with some viewer counts of over 5,000, and with a good 4G audio/video signal for most of this activity, although signal fading was seen towards the latter part with recuperation towards the very end. We highly recommend non-Spanish speaking viewers to monitor this streamer link, next time there is a #ResistiendoConAguante action, as we're working on a collaborative project for live consecutive interpretations into English in the future. This joint project consists of a dedicated Livestream channel, re-transmitting the above streamer signal.
During this #ResistiendoConAguante action at "Parque Centenario", Kiciloff in his usually good natured way, lectured the receptive masses in economics with his pop icon smile, who in turn interrupted him at times with loud roars of "Volveremos" (we'll be back!). It's hard to tell what the future holds for Axel Kiciloff, now a newly elected deputy to the national congress, but with his example he has proven that the Argentinian national economy, doesn't have to be a series of endless austerity measures, and unpopular bureaucratic instruments.
A few days ago, Argentinian journo Luis Majul, a fierce opponent of ex-President Cristina Fernandez and now an official parrot of President Mauricio Macri, published a book titled "El Final. De la locura a la normalidad". (The end. From the nut house and back to normality). For those still bombarded in their neurons like this Majul character, "normality" is code for neoliberal economists who continue to place in debt, the poorer and more vulnerable sectors of society, in order to benefit the rich and their minions the banksters. The "nut house" for these greedy folks, would be inhabited by those that think like Axel Kiciloff. The nut house would include governments that refuse to keep going in debt, and that want to liquidate those onerous debts, which were inherited from the so-called "normal" governments. The nut house would be an unemployment rate that hovers around 5 %, the lowest one in decades in Argentina. The nut house would also include higher levels of consumption, from the popular sectors of society, as well a median salary of U. S. $20 per day which doubled that of Brazil, and tripled the one in Mexico. The neoliberal definition of nut house would also have to include Argentina's commendable repatriation, of over 1,000 scientists under a special government program, and the construction of a national communications satellite. And last but not least, the neoliberally defined nut house would be code for the opening of new universities, in suburban areas of Argentina.
The main goal of a Minister of Economics, be it in Argentina or elsewhere, should be that the greatest number of people are living well. Our "K Factor" Axel Kicillof, has acted under those tenets, and in so doing, he did it in an Argentina that throughout 2015 paid its debt in cash, instead of rolling over its debt, of over U. S. $10 Billion dollars of its external debt. All this in spite of the fact, we are still in the permanent and structural crisis of capitalism that came about in 2008, triggering in turn the historical massive protests of Occupy Wall Street of September, 2011, which eventually spread worldwide, morphing into social movements like the 15M Movement in Spain. 15M in turn evolved into the Podemos political party, which just the other day, changed forever the historical landscape of the two-party hegemony in that country, not to mention its influence on other social movements throughout the planet, both on the ground and in social media.
Argentinian journo Majul celebrates in his tailor-made book the end of this "nut house" era, and he isn't the only one in his country parroting off the same Orwellian message within that subculture of "independent" Argentinian journalism. "Que vivan los locos"! Long live the nut house!
Author: Adrian C. Corbella, admin. for the "Mirando Hacia Adentro" blog in Argentina.
The above is a free translation by Ariel Fornari with modifications to the original version with the author's permission. The first paragraph in italics is the translator's introduction. The original version is here.
When he was nominated to his Minister of Economics position by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, it unleashed a knee jerk reaction from the Argentinian "Clarin" mainstream media holdings, which has functioned as a de facto opposition political party to "kirchnerismo" in the country. Kiciloff was accused of many ludicrous things. As though still petrified in the Berlin Wall and the Cold War, the nefarious Clarin MSM group said that he "originated from Marxism", as though it were some sort of a geographical location or city, lending a sort of MacArthyite tone to the infantile accusations.
Being Jewish as well as a "peronista" (follower of the historical and legendary figure of the late President Juan Domingo Peron), and a so-called "Marxist" (but in reality a Neo-Keynesian), Minister Kiciloff sported more of a youngish rockstar aura, a baby faced 44 year old who looked much younger. This in turn generated even more disparate criticism from these so-called "independent media", which in reality were militant anti-President Cristina Fernandez political sectors. Not content with absurd accusations, the so-called "free press" of Argentina, even came up with the outlandish charge that he had pocketed a millionaire's salary for advising the state's flag carrier "Aerolineas Argentinas", though it was soon proven that Kiciloff had performed those professional services gratuitously. Those unfounded charges caused our dauntless "K Factor", to have to put up one time with demeaning insults as he traveled by ferry with his family to neighboring Uruguay. Unfounded insults notwithstanding, they are more than compensated by the immense popularity that Kiciloff enjoys from vast sectors of the population. Alex Kiciloff can be usually seen in public wearing jeans and a dark polo shirt, casually strolling through his Buenos Aires neighborhood on his way to shop for groceries like another regular Joe, and you will see him wear the same set of unassuming blue collar attire, whenever he takes part in a "kirchnerista" political rally.
Among his accomplishments in his two year tenure as Economics Minister, Kiciloff achieved some noteworthy goals. When he took over the Ministry, inflation was rising in Argentina, but he was able to reverse the trend and bring it down throughout 2015, or at least until the present neoliberal and right wing government of President Macri assumed power, when the previous policies began to be reversed, with the predictable consequences of higher prices in consumer goods. He also designed a program called "Precios Cuidados" or "sheltered prices", which was an agreement with production companies and sellers of consumer items, foodstuff primarily, so the suppply of items would be offered at lower prices, and this in turn stimulated producers with liberated prices, to moderate increases in order to sell these staples. Another of his successes was the "PROCREAR" housing plan. This was a state-sponsored program of affordable credits for housing construction and ownership, which not only solved an acute demand for homeownership, but it also stimulated the job intensive construction industry.
Among the feathers in his cap, we may also include his notorious donnybrook, with the arbitrary and capricious rulings of the pompous U. S. District Court in New York, which was attempting to arbitrate and legislate from the bench, in favor of the notorious "vulture funds." And even though perhaps the rulings of crusty federal judge Griesa might've not been overturned, the Argentinian government's fight against those planetary predators provoked changes in international finance legislation, both at the UN and IMF levels. It was at this time, that international media began calling this new international finance architecture, the "Kiciloff Doctrine."
On December 20, 2015, our rockabilly and maverick ex-minister, was the star speaker at a multitudinous "kirchnerista" rally held at Buenos Aires's "Parque Centenario", criticizing the draconian neoliberal plans, being promulgated by executive decree from newly elected president Mauricio Macri. This mass gathering estimated at over 10,000, was coordinated via Facebook and Twitter, with such hashtags as #ResistiendoConAguante and #HablaKiciloff (we're holding on and resisting, and Kiciloff speaks), as well as via Whatsapp, with its resulting heavy trending and live tweeting. Argentinian cyberactivists also streamed this event live via the interactive media of Fastest Tube You Tube downloader tool, archived later here. This writer witnessed heavy viewer activity and social chat participation at this time, with some viewer counts of over 5,000, and with a good 4G audio/video signal for most of this activity, although signal fading was seen towards the latter part with recuperation towards the very end. We highly recommend non-Spanish speaking viewers to monitor this streamer link, next time there is a #ResistiendoConAguante action, as we're working on a collaborative project for live consecutive interpretations into English in the future. This joint project consists of a dedicated Livestream channel, re-transmitting the above streamer signal.
During this #ResistiendoConAguante action at "Parque Centenario", Kiciloff in his usually good natured way, lectured the receptive masses in economics with his pop icon smile, who in turn interrupted him at times with loud roars of "Volveremos" (we'll be back!). It's hard to tell what the future holds for Axel Kiciloff, now a newly elected deputy to the national congress, but with his example he has proven that the Argentinian national economy, doesn't have to be a series of endless austerity measures, and unpopular bureaucratic instruments.
A few days ago, Argentinian journo Luis Majul, a fierce opponent of ex-President Cristina Fernandez and now an official parrot of President Mauricio Macri, published a book titled "El Final. De la locura a la normalidad". (The end. From the nut house and back to normality). For those still bombarded in their neurons like this Majul character, "normality" is code for neoliberal economists who continue to place in debt, the poorer and more vulnerable sectors of society, in order to benefit the rich and their minions the banksters. The "nut house" for these greedy folks, would be inhabited by those that think like Axel Kiciloff. The nut house would include governments that refuse to keep going in debt, and that want to liquidate those onerous debts, which were inherited from the so-called "normal" governments. The nut house would be an unemployment rate that hovers around 5 %, the lowest one in decades in Argentina. The nut house would also include higher levels of consumption, from the popular sectors of society, as well a median salary of U. S. $20 per day which doubled that of Brazil, and tripled the one in Mexico. The neoliberal definition of nut house would also have to include Argentina's commendable repatriation, of over 1,000 scientists under a special government program, and the construction of a national communications satellite. And last but not least, the neoliberally defined nut house would be code for the opening of new universities, in suburban areas of Argentina.
The main goal of a Minister of Economics, be it in Argentina or elsewhere, should be that the greatest number of people are living well. Our "K Factor" Axel Kicillof, has acted under those tenets, and in so doing, he did it in an Argentina that throughout 2015 paid its debt in cash, instead of rolling over its debt, of over U. S. $10 Billion dollars of its external debt. All this in spite of the fact, we are still in the permanent and structural crisis of capitalism that came about in 2008, triggering in turn the historical massive protests of Occupy Wall Street of September, 2011, which eventually spread worldwide, morphing into social movements like the 15M Movement in Spain. 15M in turn evolved into the Podemos political party, which just the other day, changed forever the historical landscape of the two-party hegemony in that country, not to mention its influence on other social movements throughout the planet, both on the ground and in social media.
Argentinian journo Majul celebrates in his tailor-made book the end of this "nut house" era, and he isn't the only one in his country parroting off the same Orwellian message within that subculture of "independent" Argentinian journalism. "Que vivan los locos"! Long live the nut house!
Author: Adrian C. Corbella, admin. for the "Mirando Hacia Adentro" blog in Argentina.
The above is a free translation by Ariel Fornari with modifications to the original version with the author's permission. The first paragraph in italics is the translator's introduction. The original version is here.
