Carli, Guido

(1914–1993)

   Born in Brescia (Lombardy), Carli worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) between 1947 and 1950 before becoming a member of the controlling committee of the European Payments Union. In 1957–1958, he held the post of minister for foreign trade. In 1960, Carli was appointed governor of the Banca d’Italia, a position he held until 1975. In 1976, he became president of Confindustria, the association of Italian manufacturers. Carli’s political career began in 1983 when he was elected as an independent, but with the support of the Democrazia Cristiana/ Christian Democracy (DC), to the Senate. He was reelected in 1987. Carli served as minister of the treasury in Giulio Andreotti’s sixth and seventh governments (1989–1992). From this office, he did his best to protest against the growing national debt and to argue for the austerity that was anathema to the parties of government. Carli, however, was just one of three economics ministers and had no control over the departments of budget and finance. In effect, his reputation and international standing were being used as a fig leaf to cover the fiscal and monetary laxity of the parties of government. He died in Spoleto in 1993. In commemoration, the following year the Libera Universita internazionale degli studi sociali/Free University for the Social Sciences (LUISS), a private university of very high quality in Rome, renamed itself in his honor. Carli had been president of LUISS from 1978 to his death.

   See also Economy; Pentapartito.