de Soto, Hernando

A prominent Peruvian economist who was much influenced by the monetarist theories of Milton Friedman, Hernando de Soto Polar (1941– ) completed extensive studies of the informal sector of the economy, and this led him to first urge and then push through plans to reform the economy of Peru, and then other countries. This reduced the black market and removed the alienation felt by many. Combined with this, de Soto managed to get a massive land redistribution program under way in Peru that eroded the power of the insurgents who had gained popular support from the poor.

Hernando de Soto was born on June 3, 1941, in Arequipa, in the south of Peru, the son of Alberto Soto de la Jara y Rosa Polar Ugarteche, a ...