Distributive Surprises After a Decade of Reforms: Latin America in the 1990s

(Available only in Spanish) In recent decades Latin America has not developed equitably. The region has had the highest level of inequality in the world, which permeates public opinion, intellectual circles and the direction of public policy. This brief discussion document evaluates the empirical support for these perceptions of the problems of inequality and poverty which are now widely held by people, intellectuals and policymakers. The objective is to offer statistical support for discussions on this issue at the Barcelona meeting. The following chapters have three objectives. First, discover concisely the major features of the trend in equity and poverty in Latin American countries over the last 25 years. Second, explain the high degree of inequality and lack of distributive progress during this period, explicitly evaluating the impact of structural reforms. Lastly, identify the main policy areas that should be on the public policy agenda in order to achieve more equitable development in the new century.