Why Latin American Nations Fail Development Strategies in the Twenty First Century

“Drawing on a range of exciting economists like Kaldor, Kalecki, and Prebisch, this volume constitutes a refreshing alternative to Why Nations Fail and provides a rich policy and research agenda for Latin America. Economic development does not depend on property rights but on building effective states and managing aggregate demand over the long run.”—Diego Sánchez-Ancochea, coauthor of The Quest for Universal Social Policy in the South: Actors, Ideas, and Architectures “Rooted in CEPAL’s path-breaking structuralist theoretical and empirical interpretation of the retarding socioeconomic impacts of commodity-based export-led economies, this cutting-edge book constitutes a legitimate (and much-needed) challenge to the near-hegemony of entropic national economic strategies grounded in the decontextualized, pseudo-historical, ‘new institutionalist’ interpretations of Latin America’s circuitous economic trajectory.”—James M. Cypher, Professor of Economics, Doctoral Program in Development Studies, Universidad Autónoma de Zacatecas, México Economic and social development is a major topic of discussion in courses across the social sciences, particularly those focused on Latin America. Many scholars and instructors have tried to pinpoint, explain, and define the problem of underdevelopment in Latin America. New ideas have led to new strategies that have, by and large, failed to reduce income disparity and relieve poverty in the region. Why Latin American Nations Fail brings together leading Latin Americanists from several disciplines to address how and why contemporary development strategies have failed to promote long-term sustainable growth with improved well-being throughout the region. Given the dramatic political turns in contemporary Latin America, this book offers a much-needed explanation and analysis of the factors that must be considered in making sense of development today.

Pagina's: 204, Paperback, University of California Press