Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures, and Maps
- Preface to the Third Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 Latin American Economic Development
- 2 The Struggle for National Identity
- 3 The Export Sector and the World Economy, circa 1850–1914
- 4 Export-Led Growth
- 5 Export-Led Growth and the Nonexport Economy
- 6 The First World War and Its Aftermath
- 7 Policy, Performance, and Structural Change in the 1930s
- 8 War and the New International Economic Order
- 9 Inward-Looking Development in the Postwar Period
- 10 New Trade Strategies and Debt-Led Growth
- 11 Debt, Adjustment, and the Shift to a New Paradigm
- 12 Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Data Sources for Population and Exports before 1914
- Appendix 2 The Ratio of Exports to Gross Domestic Product, the Purchasing Power of Exports, the Net Barter Terms of Trade, and the Volume of Exports, circa 1850 to circa 1912
- Appendix 3 Population, Exports, Public Revenue, and GDP for the Main Latin American Countries before 1914
- Appendix 4 GDP Per Head in Latin America since 1900
- Bibliography
- Index
12 - Conclusions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2014
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Tables, Figures, and Maps
- Preface to the Third Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- List of Abbreviations
- 1 Latin American Economic Development
- 2 The Struggle for National Identity
- 3 The Export Sector and the World Economy, circa 1850–1914
- 4 Export-Led Growth
- 5 Export-Led Growth and the Nonexport Economy
- 6 The First World War and Its Aftermath
- 7 Policy, Performance, and Structural Change in the 1930s
- 8 War and the New International Economic Order
- 9 Inward-Looking Development in the Postwar Period
- 10 New Trade Strategies and Debt-Led Growth
- 11 Debt, Adjustment, and the Shift to a New Paradigm
- 12 Conclusions
- Appendix 1 Data Sources for Population and Exports before 1914
- Appendix 2 The Ratio of Exports to Gross Domestic Product, the Purchasing Power of Exports, the Net Barter Terms of Trade, and the Volume of Exports, circa 1850 to circa 1912
- Appendix 3 Population, Exports, Public Revenue, and GDP for the Main Latin American Countries before 1914
- Appendix 4 GDP Per Head in Latin America since 1900
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The economic development of Latin America since independence is a story of unfulfilled promise. Despite the abundance of natural resources and a favorable ratio of land to labor, and after two centuries of freedom from colonial rule, not one republic has yet achieved the status of a developed country. Furthermore, the gap between living standards in Latin America and the United States – often taken as the most relevant country for comparison – has widened since the early nineteenth century. Although individual countries in various periods have grown rapidly, none has been able to sustain a high rate of growth of GDP per head for long enough to eliminate the gap with the developed countries.
Even though the collapse of Iberian rule ended restrictions on commerce, Latin America continued to operate in a world in which rules were made by others. Unable to break into the charmed circle of advanced capitalist countries, Latin America remained a peripheral region in which external influence was preeminent. Trade cycles, investment and consumption patterns, the accumulation of debt, and the transfer of technology have all been driven by forces over which Latin America has exercised little control. Even during the period of inward-looking development, the ability of external events to shape internal dynamics was powerful.
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- Information
- The Economic History of Latin America since Independence , pp. 436 - 458Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2014