Neither socialism nor free-market neoliberalism has been a very helpful model for Latin America, writes Javier Santiso in this witty and literate reading of that region's economic and political condition. Latin America must move beyond utopian schemes and rigid ideologies invented in other hemispheres and acknowledge its own social realities of inequality and poverty. And today some countries--notably Chile and Brazil, but also Mexico and Colombia--are doing just that: abandoning the economic "magic realism" that plots miraculous but impossible solutions and forging instead a pragmatic path of gradual reform. Many Latin American leaders are adopting an approach combining monetary and fiscal orthodoxies with progressive social policies. This, says Santiso, is "the silent arrival of the political economy of the possible," which offers hope to a region exhausted by economic reform programs entailing macroeconomic shocks and countershocks.Santiso describes the creation in Chile and Brazil of institutions and policies that are connected to social realities rather than to theories found in economics textbooks. Mexico too has created its own fiscal and monetary policies and institutions, and it has the additional benefit of being a party to NAFTA. Santiso outlines the development strategies unfolding in Latin America, from Chile and Brazil to Colombia and Uruguay, strategies anchored externally by treaties and trade agreements and internally by strong fiscal and monetary institutions and policies. And he charts the less successful trajectories of Argentina, Venezuela, and Bolivia, which are still in thrall to utopian but impossible miracle cures.Santiso's account of this emerging transformation describes Latin America at a crossroads. Beginning in 2006, elections in Brazil, Mexico, and elsewhere may signal whether Latin America will decisively choose the political economy of the possible over the political economy of the impossible.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Throughout the 20th century, a tug-of-war of political and economic policies was waged in Latin America, with revolutionary Marxists on one side and neo-liberal reformers on the other. But now, in the early 21st century, pragmatism rules the day, or so argues Santiso, the chief development economist at the OECD Development Centre. Through his cogent analysis of political and economic trends in the region over the last century, Santiso suggests that leaders have discarded utopianism, moving their focus from the future to the present. This shift has allowed policy and planning to focus on the real needs of the various countries, and has engendered solutions that mix a number of formerly exclusive ideologies. In his chapters on Chile, Mexico and Brazil, Santiso argues that Latin American leaders no longer believe in a region-wide panacea. Though his case for economic steadiness is strong, Santiso disregards the great economic inequalities in Latin America, and he ignores how recent policies are affecting the poor. This book is a refreshing look at Latin America and will be encouraging to those who fear those countries are turning too for to the left, or for anyone who wishes to see how the land of magical realism has become quite pragmatic. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"Here Javier Santiso offers us an original and passionate view of the historic moment that Latin America is actually living through right now. It is required reading for all those who are interested in the region's development."--Ricardo Hausmann, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
"A beautiful and elegant book. A well-argued and convincing thesis: that after centuries of dream chasing, pragmatism has come to Latin America. One passionately hopes that it will not go away." Olivier Blanchard , Professor of Economics, MIT
"A brilliant analysisclear, concise, and a must for all those interested in Latin America." Jacques de Larosière , former Managing Director, International Monetary Fund
"This book is a refreshing look at Latin America and will be encouraging to those who fear those countries are turning too for to the left, or for anyone who wishes to see how the land of magical realism has become quite pragmatic." Publishers Weekly
"A brilliant analysis -- clear, concise, and a must for all those interested in Latin America."--Jacques de Larosière, former Managing Director, International Monetary FundPlease note: There should be a grave accent over the first "e" in "Larosiere."
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful reading!,
This review is from: Latin America's Political Economy of the Possible: Beyond Good Revolutionaries and Free-Marketeers (Paperback)
Santiso's Political Economy of the Possible is a refreshing and insightful book, a must-read for academic experts and policy makers interested in understanding the development trajectory of Latin America. More importantly, drawing on Albert Hirschman's legacy, it provides potent insights to better understand the evolution of development thinking and reform paradigms towards a new approach to economic policymaking in developing countries and emerging markets. As Santiso rightly underscores, developing countries in general and Latin American countries in particular have been scarred by the use, misuse and abuse of development paradigms, from the import-substitution industrialization model to the prescriptions of the Washington consensus. Beyond its substance, this book is also elegantly written using many literary references which make it a delight to read.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book,
By
This review is from: Latin America's Political Economy of the Possible: Beyond Good Revolutionaries and Free-Marketeers (Paperback)
Javier Santiso's exceedingly well written analysis of Latin America's new market economies is the rare book that is both interesting to specialists and accessible to a broader audience beyond academia. This feat is especially remarkable because the author examines complicated economic topics that are too often discussed with virtually impenetrable technical jargon. By contrast, Santiso uses clear, elegant language. Together with Santiso's profound theoretical and substantive command, this gift of presentation turns the book into a great introduction to the contemporary political economy of the region.
Specifically, this volume offers a refreshing, well-informed analysis of economic policy reform in Latin America during the last two decades. Providing a valuable overview of the region's political economy, it is stimulating for specialists, useful for a broader audience, and especially recommended as a text for upper-division undergraduate courses and introductory graduate seminars. Kurt Weyland, University of Texas at Austin (excerpt of academic review published in LATIN AMERICAN POLITICS & SOCIETY 49:2 [Summer 2007], pp. 201-5.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
looking differently at Latin America,
This review is from: Latin America's Political Economy of the Possible: Beyond Good Revolutionaries and Free-Marketeers (Paperback)
Latin America has developed a lot over the past decade or so, but its politics are still heavily influenced by old fashioned ideas. Radicalism of the kind espoused by Fidel Castro or Hugo Chavez still holds sway among many progressives, for example. Many conservatives, meanwhile, still tend to exaggerate the importance of market forces, despite the shortcomings of liberal reforms of the 1980s and 1990s. In this book Javier Santiso, eschews such simplistic and ideologically-based approaches. He persuasively argues instead in favour of a "political economy of the possible", arguing that recent progress - achieved notably in countries such as Chile and Brazil - has come about where political leaders have embarked on a path of cautious pragmatism and reform.
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