He then started work as a lawyer in the office of Francesc de Paula Rius i Taulet, the mayor of Barcelona.

[1] Carner was rapporteur of a draft reform to the municipal law, approved on 4 March 1902, although it seems to have been written by Enric Prat de la Riba.

Carner was involved in the debate over corruption in the supply of building materials in Barcelona, and initiated a condemnation of the conduct of Alejandro Lerroux and others.

[1] After the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed Carner was elected deputy to the Cortes for the Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) party.

[4] After promulgation of the republican constitution Manuel Azaña reorganized the government and appointed Carner as Minister of Finance on 16 December 1931.

[1] The moderate Felipe Sánchez Román y Gallifa, who had been considered as a potential candidate for President of the Republic, resigned from the government's legal advisory committee due in part to objections to the appointment of Carner as Minister of Finance.

[1] Carner followed his predecessor Indalecio Prieto in making stabilisation of the peseta his first goal in order to restore Spain's access to international credit.

His policies were conservative and deflationary, including restrictions on imports, pruning the civil service and working towards balancing the budget.

[11] His funeral in Barcelona at the end of September was attended by Azaña and many other political leaders, including Left Republicans, Socialists and members of the Generalitat de Catalunya.