The political and social upheavals that have transformed the
economies of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union during the
past ten years have sparked considerable interest and speculation
on the part of Western observers. Less noted, though hardly less
dramatic, has been the revolutionary spread of free market
capitalism throughout much of Latin America during the same period.
In a wide-ranging survey that illuminates both the history and
present business climate of the region, Paul Roberts and Karen
Araujo describe the economic transformation currently taking place
in Latin America. And as they do so, they also reexamine many of
the prevailing orthodoxies concerning international development and
the regulation of markets, and point to the success of
privatization and free enterprise in Mexico, Argentina, and Chile
as harbingers of the economic future for both hemispheres.
The potential strength of the economies of Central and South
America has always been obvious, the authors point out. Abundant
natural resources, combined with vast expanses of fertile land and
a sophisticated and relatively cohesive social culture, are found
throughout the region. But the authors show that the Latin American
nations were slow to discard the economic and social climate that
they had inherited from their Spanish colonial masters, who had
ruled by selling government jobs--creating a network of
privilege--and by suppressing through over-regulation the
development of markets for goods, services, and capital. The
prevalent cultural attitude in Latin America was hostile to
commerce, trade, and work--indeed, it was more socially acceptable
to court government privilege than to compete in markets. The
authors further show that U.S. aid packages to the region actually
reinforced this culture of privilege and further hampered the
growth of a free economy. Not until the 1980s did the picture begin
to change, largely in response to the economic crises brought on
through catastrophic national debts and hyperinflation. The book
describes the efforts of the Salinas, Pinochet, and Menem
governments to combat the established interests of the local elites
and the international development agencies, to privatized state
industries, and to established independent markets. In this new
climate, private capitalists and entrepreneurs are feted and
celebrated, and productivity has risen to levels unimagined only a
few years before. But this dramatic economic turnaround, the
authors show, is a mixed blessing for the U.S. For if it provides
us with a vast new market for our goods, it has also created a
powerful new competitor for capital investment. To keep American
and foreign capitalists investing in America, the government needs
to make changes, which the authors outline in a provocative
conclusion.
Central and South America have a combined population of 460
million people, a potential market greater than the United States
and Canada combined or the European Community. Thus the rise of
free market capitalism in Latin America is of vital interest to the
United States. The CapitalistRevolution in Latin America provides
an insightful portrait of this dramatic economic turn-around,
illuminating the economic consequences for our own society.
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