The contradictions of Mário Centeno - a recipe for disaster

Socialist Minister of Finance, Mário Centeno

The case of Mario Centeno - 

because of the importance of the Finance ministry 

and the external commitments to which Portugal are bound - 

is particularly difficult. 

More so, in a political context where the Socialists govern, 

supported by the radical left. 

If Centeno´s function would have been complex under normal political conditions, 

it became a challenge of  a virtual balancing of the impossible, 

with the extinction of the "arc of governance", PSD/CDS/PS, 

that António Costa has seen fit to ignore in his quest to come to power.

The positions taken - and reaffirmed - by the radical left-wingers, 

the Bloc Esquerda and the Communists, in the area of public finances, 

suggest that Centeno is likely to be a mere decorative adornment, 

trying to give some kind of political respectability, 

advocated by the extreme left and the more radical wing of the PS. 

If this is not confirmed, and Centeno proves to be more than a figurehead, 

the Portuguese State may perhaps preserve its external credibility, 

but the break with the radical BE (Bloco Esquerda) and the PCP (Communists) 

will be inevitable.

After being questioned by Miguel Morgado, 

deputy of the PSD, to the Finance Minister, Mario Centeno, 

as well as the answers given by the latter, 

it were particularly revealing in this regard. 

Recalling recent academic publications, in which Centeno warned of the risks, 

associated with the minimum wage increases, 

the PSD deputy put his finger in the festering sore. 

The scientific and professional credibility of Centeno, 

within national academic circles, results of his professional experience 

and his writings, which are largely incompatible 

with the prescription that the Socialist-Marxist-Leninist government, 

of which he now belongs, threatens to apply to the country.

The fact that virtually all of Centeno´s political speech 

focused on short-term measures - 

abandoning structural concerns 

about the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy - 

is of particular concern. ~

Hence, when the minister Mário Centeno answered 

the deputy Miguel Morgado´s questioning, 

saying one can not transpose conclusions 

of scientific papers into national law, 

because such an attempt would be "a step into disaster," 

Centeno himself implicitly recognized the impossibility 

of the balancing act exercise in which he is caught up.

The academic Mario Centeno will certainly not fail to look with concern 

at the statements of Minister Mário Centeno. 

And the worst is that Portugal

 is just a few steps away from a new disaster.

Mario Centeno in 2013 (scientific article published in a book): 

"An increase of the minimum wage will increase the de-indeksation of productivity, 

which generates unemployment and hurts workers". 

Mario Centeno in 2015: "a minimum wage increase will generate consumption 

and will be beneficial for workers". 

Mario Centeno on 03/12/2015 when confronted with the contradictions 

of what he said and published in 2013 and what he now advocates in 2015: 

"Following (theories) that I wrote and published in 2013 is a recipe for disaster".