Alberto J. Pani

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Alberto José Pani Arteaga (1878–1955) was a Mexican politician, civil engineer, and expert in economic policy who played a major role after the Mexican Revolution. From a prominent Aguascalientes family, he studied in his hometown and in Mexico City, graduating as an engineer in 1902 and later teaching there. He supported Francisco I. Madero and joined the anti-reelectionist movement.

In 1911 he became undersecretary of Public Instruction and Fine Arts. After the 1913 Huerta dictatorship, he aligned with the Constitutionalist faction led by Venustiano Carranza and helped Mexico win the revolution in 1915. When Carranza became president, Pani headed the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Labor and was sent to France to participate in the postwar talks after World War I.

Following the 1920 rebellion against Carranza, Pani returned to Mexico. After Álvaro Obregón won the presidency, he was named Secretary of Foreign Affairs in 1921 and then Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit in 1923 (confirmed in 1925). These years were the peak of his government service. He reformed government finances, renegotiated Mexico’s external debt, and created Banco de México, a government-controlled central bank. He promoted a classical liberal program: a balanced budget, restoring foreign confidence in Mexico’s debts, and maintaining a stable currency. He also helped introduce an income tax, cut some civil servant salaries, and streamline ministries, increasing government revenues.

Pani strengthened rural finance through the National Bank of Agricultural Credit and supported major infrastructure projects, including roads, irrigation, and hydraulic works. He left the treasury in 1927 and spent time in Europe as a diplomat, serving as minister plenipotentiary in France and as ambassador to Spain. He returned during the Maximato (1928–34) to serve again as Secretary of the Treasury (1932–34) under Abelardo L. Rodríguez.

After leaving government, he pursued architecture in Mexico City with a construction firm and his nephew Mario Pani. His projects included redesigning the Plaza de la Constitución (the Zócalo), updating the National Palace with a third floor, and finishing the Palace of Fine Arts, begun under Porfirio Díaz. Pani was a prolific writer, publishing many works, including autobiographies.