“People were happy to meet up with friends in the small square. There was really something special about this campus that helped make the meeting a success,” he said. Hausmann thanked Banco de la República, Centro de Pensamiento Social and Universidad de Antioquia, co-organizers of the event along with Universidad EAFIT, as well as the main in-country sponsors, Medellín City Hall and Bancolombia.

Presidential visit
The Venezuelan economist said Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos Calderón’s presence at the inauguration was one of the most significant aspects of the meeting.

“Something really unique happened involving him. Chile’s former finance minister, Andrés Velasco, gave his first talk with the Colombian president in the audience and later the president made a series of instantaneous, point-by-point remarks on what Velasco had said and also spoke about the situation in Colombia and his projects for the country.”

Juan José Echavarría Soto, co-director of Banco de la República de Colombia and Lacea 2010 director, followed up by pointing out the importance of having President Santos on hand for the inauguration and noting that former Minister Velasco’s topic, the relationship between economics and politics, is of particular interest to the head of state.

The Central Bank director said holding this year’s Lacea in Medellín was a challenge that ended in success. “Events of this type have been held in Paris and other large capitals and so the end result is very satisfactory.”

Echavarría Soto said bringing together such a distinguished group of economists in one place was no small feat. “I think we capitalized to the fullest on the Lacea meeting, giving the audience a taste of the discussions taking place in the international arena.”

Knowledge to share
The director said an important highlight were the video recordings made during the meeting of close to 50 lectures in both English and Spanish, adding that they are easily accessible by economics departments worldwide and anyone else interested in the various topics.

The quality of the presentations, papers and talks and the large audience for the lectures are what made the Lacea meeting a big success. The event also further demonstrated Medellín’s ability to organize these types of high-level gatherings, according to the Banco de la República co-director, who said he is sure many more will come to the city.

“Another positive for Lacea was the establishment of the Juan Luis Londoño Prize, which honors a man who, according to Hausmann, influenced the lives of many people,” Echavarría Soto said.

The world pays a visit
Carlos Medina, academic coordinator of Lacea 2010, proudly noted that the association’s board was pleased with the meeting’s results and even proposed that next year’s event – which may take place in Chile – be similar to the Medellín gathering and held in a similar setting.

“They’re very satisfied with the media coverage, with the academic level of the work and strongly praised the staff who accompanied the invited economists,” he said.

According to Alexander Tobón, head of the Economics Department at Universidad de Antioquia’s School of Economic Sciences, the meeting yielded two significant results.

“One is it managed to attract leading figures in the field of Latin American political economy who, when they sit and think (through the issues), are deciding the future of these countries. Secondly, the positive economic outlook for this year and next, both for Colombia and Latin America, were apparent in the discussions, so there’s optimism.”

For his part, Professor Alberto José Naranjo Ramos, head of EAFIT’s Economics Department and member of the academic committee, said the event was “of enormous benefit to the city, to EAFIT on its 50-year anniversary and to the student population and faculty.”

In the final analysis, the Lacea meeting in Medellín brought a sense of optimism about the region’s future prospects and left participants with the sense, as Ricardo Hausmann said, of what a privilege it is to be an economist in Latin America.

“Being engaged with our society means thinking, contributing ideas and analysis and developing theories,” he said, adding that “it is not every day that so much talent is assembled at such an important event.”