His time at the helm of the economy portfolio lasted only 15 days, as he was forced to leave office after announcing an unpopular austerity plan.

In his professional activity he worked as a consultant and economic advisor to companies, international investors and financial institutions in Argentina and Latin America.

[6] Enjoying little political support from President, Fernando de la Rúa, he was fired within two weeks after a wave of protest over his proposed fiscal austerity project, by which he sought to prevent the 2001 economic crisis but which sharply cut public spending.

[7] He founded a conservative liberal political party, Recreate for Growth (RECREAR), in 2002, and ran for the presidency in the April 2003 elections, finishing third behind Carlos Menem and Néstor Kirchner, with 16.3% of the popular vote.

He was the favorite of the hundreds of Argentines who voted in the United States, Italy, Great Britain, Spain, Chile, Uruguay and Brazil.

[8] He later teamed with Mauricio Macri in 2005 to create a new center-right coalition called Republican Proposal (PRO), which tacitly supported his unsuccessful second bid to the presidency in the 2007 presidential election.

[11][12] He is described as an economist with a graduate degree from the University of Chicago, a militant Catholic and a fan of San Lorenzo de Almagro.