Latin American Economic History in the Light of the Recent Economic Cycles

Latin American economic history has been characterized by strong economic fluctuations and a process of divergence with the world leaders. Unfortunately, this historical pattern seems to persist. At the productive level, the bulk of the Latin American countries have not been able to leave their natural-resource-based production patterns completely behind and continue to depend on a pattern of trade specialization with limited access to more technologically intensive and dynamic segments of the global market. Most recently, the end of the last commodity boom generated one of the worst quinquennium in the region’s history, on top of which came the dramatic economic and, particularly, social effects of the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, Latin American countries are now facing deep economic, social and, in several cases, political crises, that create skepticism about their future. This paper presents a compact view of this process with focus on: Latin America’s position in the world economy through its major phases of historical development; the external factors that have led to a sequence of crises, a phenomenon that has been severe over the past four decades; and regional trends in human development, inequality and poverty. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the major regional challenges in the light of history and recent trends.