In this paper I analyze the evolution of economic and social conditions in Latin America from the 1950s through the 1980s, when deep external crises erupted in country after country. The point of departure of our story is the political awakening of the region in the late 1950s and early 1960s and the emergence of guerilla movements in many countries, including in Cuba. I then analyze the Alliance for Progress, a major and ambitious aid program sponsored by the United States whose main objective was to improve social conditions in the region. I show that in spite of the Alliance, social circumstances did not improve significantly; I also show that throughout this period protectionism and government intervention became more ingrained, discouraging productivity improvements. I then deal with inflation, fiscal largesse, and the Mexican debt crisis of 1982, a crisis that led to the so-called “lost decade.” The paper ends with a discussion of the launching of the reforms of the Washington Consensus in 1989-1990. I provide a detailed analysis of the most important elements of this consensus, and I touch on some of the implementation challenges.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
15190.
Length: Date of creation: Jul 2009 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15190
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Find related papers by JEL classification: F30 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - General F32 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - Current Account Adjustment; Short-term Capital Movements N26 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Latin America; Caribbean O40 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General O54 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
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References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Leandro Prados de la Escosura, 2007.
"When Did Latin America Fall Behind?,"
NBER Chapters,
in: The Decline of Latin American Economies: Growth, Institutions, and Crises, pages 15-58
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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