The Barcelona Economic Society of Friends of the Country recently paid tribute to the academic career in the field of economics and public policy of Dr. Antoni Castells Oliveres, Professor of Public Finance at the University of Barcelona. And for this reason, he presented him with the Alexandre Pedrós Prize awarded annually by the entity.
It so happens that Pedrós and Castells have been prominent members of the Department of Public Finance of the University of Barcelona, both were researchers at the IEB and Professor Castells, in addition, was its first Director. In view of this circumstance, the speeches of Antoni Castells himself when he received the award and also that of the professor and researcher of the IEB, Dr. Núria Bosch, who was in charge of glossing the figure of the winner, became extremely important during the event.
Castells, among many other things, recalled and stressed that “it was Alexandre Pedrós who sowed the seed of studies in the field of fiscal federalism in Catalonia and Spain”. Bosch, for his part, wanted to highlight Professor Castells’ ability to “have a broad view that allows us to understand public finances not as an isolated technical exercise, but as a central piece in the articulation of the welfare state and in the construction of Europe”.
Full speeches by Antoni Castells and Núria Bosch.
The award ceremony, convened by the Barcelona Economic Society of Friends of the Country, was chaired by Miquel Roca y Junyent, president of Friends of the Country, and was attended by prominent personalities, such as President José Montilla and Alicia Romero, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat de Catalunya.