Robert Cox Merton, 1997 Nobel Prize winner in economics, arrived in Argentina this week and met with President Javier Milei. He later attended the Fundación Capital’s 30th anniversary celebration together with Martín Redrado. In the country he spoke about an alternative to improve the sustainability of pension systems, such as savings bonds.
In dialogue with the media, Merton addressed the pension issue and global concerns about finding options for reform.
-How was your meeting with the President?
-We had a very good meeting with my wife and I learned a lot. I haven’t been here in Argentina for a while so it was very informative. The progress made is very encouraging, but it is still very early days. I am surprised at how quickly the surplus necessary for the rest of the economy to function has been achieved.
The people I met, apart from the Capital Foundation – including some business people – were very enthusiastic about Argentina.
-Did you give Javier Milei any advice?
-I prefer this to be communicated by the official team, but in many meetings here I have talked about the challenges of the pension system and the possibility of financial innovation. Even in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf, where there are extremely rich countries with great savings capacity, they are worried.
The main obstacle is that implementation takes time, but I am pleased that Brazil has embraced it.
– How do you see that the government has postponed the pension reform until later?
-I don’t know why it was decided this way, but I can say that a deeper capital market is required to implement a financial solution.
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