2008 - 2009 PARTICIPANTS |
 | Hernando de Soto President Institute for Liberty and Democracy Economic Power Hernando de Soto is currently President of the Institute for Liberty and Democracy (ILD) - headquartered in Lima, Peru - considered by The Economist as one of the two most important think tanks in the world. Time magazine chose him as one of the five leading Latin American innovators of the century in its special May 1999 issue "Leaders for the New Millennium," and included him among the 100 most influential people in the world in 2004. He has served as an economist for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, as President of the Executive Committee of the Copper Exporting Countries Organization (CIPEC), as CEO of Universal Engineering Corporation (Continental Europe's largest consulting engineering firm), as a principal of the Swiss Bank Corporation Consultant Group, and as a governor of Peru's Central Reserve Bank. He has published two books about economic and political development: The Other Path and The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. He has received numerous awards for his efforts to counteract poverty, including The Freedom Prize in Switzerland, The Fisher Prize in the United Kingdom, and the 2007 Humanitarian Award. |
