Axel Kicillof is an Argentine economist and politician who has served as Governor of Buenos Aires Province since December 11, 2019. Kicillof also served as Argentina’s Minister of Economy from 2013 to 2015 under President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and as a Federal Deputy for Buenos Aires.
Described by his biographer as “the economic guru who captivated Cristina Kirchner,” Kicillof was instrumental in the 2012 renationalization of the energy company YPF. It was on his advice that President Fernández de Kirchner decided not to comply with bondholders’ demands for repayment in 2014. The decision was supported by, among others, the United Nations, the Organization of American States, G77 nations, the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Bankers Association, and bondholders whose payments were suspended due to the 2014 ruling.
Kicillof has been a staunch believer in Keynesian economics and an avid supporter of the Kirchners since his student days, when he was a member of the pro-Kirchner youth organization La Cámpora and head of the radical student group TNT. A longtime professor at the University of Buenos Aires Faculty of Economic Sciences and an outspoken critic of the neoliberal policies of the Kirchners’ predecessors, he is also known for his unorthodox hairstyle and dress code, which symbolize his anti-establishment stance.
Kicillof was an adjunct professor at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) Faculty of Economic Sciences from 1998 to 2010.
While teaching, he gained attention for his pro-Kirchner Marxist writings on the website of CENDA (Center for Argentine Development), a think tank he directed. Some of those writings were later removed from the site.
In 2003, Kicillof became the first Head of Practical Work and later a Tenured Adjunct Professor of Economics II in the Sociology department. He also taught economics at the Carlos Pellegrini High School of Commerce, the National University of Quilmes, and the National University of General Sarmiento.
At the graduate level, Kicillof was a professor of economics in the master’s and doctoral programs in social sciences at the National University of General Sarmiento’s Institute for Economic and Social Development (UNGS-IDES). At FLACSO (Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences), he taught History of Economic Thought in the Master’s Program in Public Policy for Development with Social Inclusion. Kicillof also taught courses in the master’s and doctoral programs in Political Economy with a focus on the Argentine economy, specializing in two subjects: History of Economic Thought and Micro- and Macroeconomics—Fundamental Concepts of Political Economy. Additionally, he offered a course titled “Capital Differentiation in the Field of Health” at UBA’s Faculty of Economic Sciences.
Since November 2010, Kicillof has been a research assistant at CONICET. At the Center for Development Planning Studies (CEPLAD) within the UBA Institute of Economic Research, he served as Deputy Director from 2006 to 2010.