The Economics background of a professor of Law: Ricardo Lagos Escobar

Abstract

In 1961, on the recommendation of his mentor, Alberto Baltra, and with a progressive inclination toward academia rather than professional practice as a lawyer, the jurist and future President of the Republic of Chile, Ricardo Lagos Escobar, arrived at Duke University, in North Carolina, United States, to pursue the courses that would lead him first to a Master's degree and then to a Doctorate in Economics. During his stay at this university, Ricardo Lagos studied, among others, subjects such as the history of economic analysis, distribution theory, industrial economics, competition and statistics. This short article tries to reconstruct some aspects of Ricardo Lagos' economic training, especially during those years at Duke University, and which will be fundamental for the contents that he will later teach in his classes once he returns to Chile. This text was prepared from the study of some notes he took in those academic work sessions, which allow us to elucidate his interests in issues of industrial organization, competition and market structures.