TY  - JOUR
AU  - Edwards,Sebastian
TI  - Latin America's Decline: A Long Historical View
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 15171
PY  - 2009
Y2  - July 2009
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15171
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w15171.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Sebastian Edwards
UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Business
110 Westwood Plaza, Suite C508
Box 951481
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1481
Tel: 310/206-6797
Fax: 310/206-5825
E-Mail: sebastian.edwards@anderson.ucla.edu
AB  - In this paper I analyze Latin America's very long term economic performance (since the early 18th century), and I compare it with that of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the countries of Western Europe.  I begin with an analysis of long term data and an attempt at determining when the region's decline really began.  The next section deals with the relation between the strength of institutions since colonial rule and the region’s economic performance.  Next I move to an analysis of Latin America's long history with instability, crises and debt defaults.  I show that currency collapses have been a staple of the region's economic history.  In the Section that follows I analyze the long term evolution of social conditions, including poverty and income inequality.  This analysis shows that a high degree of income disparity and poverty have a long history in the region.  The paper ends with an analysis of the way in which Latin American intellectuals and scholars have seen the increasing economic and income gap with the United States and Canada.
ER  -