This brief text offers an unbiased reflection on the neoliberalism debate in Latin America and the institutional puzzle that underlies the region's difficulties with democratization and development.
This is a reader that applies the newest debates in political economy to the analysis of Latin America in a way that is thematically and theoretically cohesive.. Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America. } Modern Political Economy and Latin America consists of carefully selected, edited readings in Latin American political economy. The editors, Jeffry Frieden and Manuel Pastor, Jr., include an introductory chapter, and a concluding article as well as brief introductions to all sections. These inclusions will make explicit the theoretical underpinnings of each article, and will highlight their respective contributions to the ongoing debates in Latin America.Latin American economies are undergoing profound transformations. And, in the wake of a decade-long debt crisis, the statist models of the past are giving way to a reliance on the market even as authoritarian rule seems to have ebbed in favor of new or reborn democratic institutions. As a result, the policy framework guiding economic and political development is likely to be fundamentally different. The analysis of Latin America needs a strong dose of modern political economy--one that can bring the area studies field up to date with the recent developments on the theoretical end of the economics and political science professions. This book helps fill that need. }
Understanding Latin America's recent economic performance calls for a multidisciplinary analysis. This handbook looks at the interaction of economics and politics in the region and includes a number of contributions from top academic experts who have also served as key policy makers (a former president, ministers of finance, a central bank governor), reflecting upon the challenges of reform.
In this book, China-Latin America relations experts Margaret Myers and Carol Wise examine the political and economic forces that have underpinned Chinese engagement in the region, as well as the ways in which these forces have shaped economic sectors and policy-making in Latin America. The contributors begin with a review of developments in cross-Pacific statecraft, including the role of private, state-level, sub-national, and extra-regional actors that have influenced China-Latin America engagement in recent years. Part two of the book examines the variety of Latin American development trajectories borne of China’s growing global presence. Contributors analyse the effects of Chinese engagement on specific economic sectors, clusters (the LAC emerging economies), and sub-regions (Central America, the Southern Cone of South America, and the Andean region). Individual case studies draw out these themes. This volume is a welcome addition to the growing body of literature on China-Latin America relations. It illuminates the complex interplay between economics and politics that has characterized China’s relations with the region as a second decade of enhanced economic engagement draws to a close. This volume is an indispensable read for students, scholars and policy makers wishing to gain new insights into the political economy of China-Latin America relations.
Analysis of Latin America's economy focusing on development, covering the colonial roots of inequality, boom and bust cycles, labor markets, and fiscal and monetary policy. Latin America is richly endowed with natural resources, fertile land, and vibrant cultures. Yet the region remains much poorer than its neighbors to the north. Most Latin American countries have not achieved standards of living and stable institutions comparable to those found in developed countries, have experienced repeated boom-bust cycles, and remain heavily reliant on primary commodities. This book studies the historical roots of Latin America's contemporary economic and social development, focusing on poverty and income inequality dating back to colonial times. It addresses today's legacies of the market-friendly reforms that took hold in the 1980s and 1990s by examining successful stabilizations and homemade monetary and fiscal institutional reforms. It offers a detailed analysis of trade and financial liberalization, twenty–first century-growth, and the decline in poverty and income inequality. Finally, the book offers an overall analysis of inclusive growth policies for development—including gender issues and the informal sector—and the challenges that lie ahead for the region, with special attention to pressing demands by the vibrant and vocal middle class, youth unemployment, and indigenous populations.
In this book Victor Bulmer-Thomas uses his previously unpublished estimates of the national accounts to explore economic and social development in the five Central American republics from 1920. He examines in detail variations in economic policy between countries which help to account for differences in performance. The major political developments are woven into the analysis and linked to changes in internal and external conditions. Growth under liberal oligarchic rule in the 1920s, heavily dependent on exports of coffee and bananas, was accompanied by modest reform programmes. The 1929 depression, which hit the region hard, undermined most of the reforms and ushered in a period of dictatorial rule in all republics except Costa Rica. The Second World War, particularly after the entry of the United States, at first strengthened the dictatorships, but ultimately produced challenges to rule by authoritarian caudillos. The social upheavals accompanying the post-war export-led boom forced governments in each republic to address the question of economic, social and political reform.
Again and again, Latin America has seen the populist scenario played to an unfortunate end. Upon gaining power, populist governments attempt to revive the economy through massive spending. After an initial recovery, inflation reemerges and the government responds with wage an price controls. Shortages, overvaluation, burgeoning deficits, and capital flight soon precipitate economic crisis, with a subsequent collapse of the populist regime. The lessons of this experience are especially valuable for countries in Eastern Europe, as they face major political and economic decisions. Economists and political scientists from the United States and Latin America detail in this volume how and why such programs go wrong and what leads policymakers to repeatedly adopt these policies despite a history of failure. Authors examine this pattern in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Peru—and show how Colombia managed to avoid it. Despite differences in how each country implemented its policies, the macroeconomic consequences were remarkably similar. Scholars of Latin America will find this work a valuable resource, offering a distinctive macroeconomic perspective on the continuing controversy over the dynamics of populism.
This book makes an original contribution to the discussion about agro-food exporting countries’ governmental policy. It presents a historicized and internationally contextualized exploration of the political economy of agrarian change in three Latin American countries: Argentina, Praguay, and Uruguay. By comparatively examining how these states have acted in a context of global driven market forces and historically formed institutions, the monograph illuminates the differing capacities of state autonomy under the present era of globalized agriculture.
Political Institutions and Economic Growth in Latin America offers a new contribution to the literature on institutions and growth through the analysis of historical cases of institutional change and economic growth in Latin America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.