The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development [Paperback]

Patrice Franko (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003 | ISBN-10: 0742524663 | ISBN-13: 978-0742524668 | Edition: Second Edition

Fully revised and updated, this text provides the basic economic tools for students to understand the problems facing the countries of Latin America. In this second edition, Patrice Franko analyzes challenges to the neoliberal model of development and highlights recent macroeconomic changes in the region, including the broad move to a floating exchange rate and the collapse of the Argentine economy. Including charts and tables with the most current data available, the book also offers a wealth of new boxed discussions and vignettes.

After a brief historical overview, Franko builds a contemporary model of regional development. She explores the contradictions of growth, especially in the context of overcoming intractable problems of poverty, education, health, and discrimination. Franko focuses on factors of competitiveness, including labor markets, technology, and infrastructure challenges. Inviting students to view challenges through the eyes of policymakers, the text encourages a critical assessment of past and present policy choices. Data exercises promote research skills and highlight the diversity of development experiences in the region. Liberally interspersed with examples and case studies, the author successfully combines theory and its application in the real world.

This innovative yet user-friendly text simultaneously challenges strong students while clarifying the fundamentals for novices. By exploring the difficult choices facing Latin American policymakers, the author gives readers interested in economics or in Latin American studies the conceptual means to understand the puzzle of strong, sustainable, and equitable growth in the region.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for the First Edition This text has served as an invaluable guide to my course on Latin American economic development, and it has helped to enliven class debates. It is comprehensive, concise, and beautifully written. The book offers clear definitions of numerous concepts and economic development terms that are extremely useful and accessible for students at all levels of learning. I highly recommend it.... (Carol Wise )

Praise for the First Edition This useful text . . . is a welcome addition to the growing list of texts surveying the economics of Latin America. . . . A wealth of details is provided on the author's presentation, which includes numerous charts and graphs on major issues such as privatization, trade, finance, competitiveness, and social policies.... (Choice )

An essential book about Latin American economies. (Latin-Focus )

Praise for the First Edition Patrice Franko's book is engaging, it focuses on important contemporary issues, and it challenges students. This text will serve introductory students well, while also offering sufficient analytical substance and institutional detail for those with more background in economics. It clearly illustrates how economics can help us understand important issues in the region.... (David Schodt )

Praise for the First Edition Patrice Franko's book is engaging, it focuses on important contemporary issues, and it challenges students. This text will serve introductory students well, while also offering sufficient analytical substance and institutional detail for those with more background in economics. It clearly illustrates how economics can help us understand important issues in the region. (David Schodt )

Praise for the First Edition This text has served as an invaluable guide to my course on Latin American economic development, and it has helped to enliven class debates. It is comprehensive, concise, and beautifully written. The book offers clear definitions of numerous concepts and economic development terms that are extremely useful and accessible for students at all levels of learning. I highly recommend it. (Carol Wise )

Praise for the First Edition This useful text . . . is a welcome addition to the growing list of texts surveying the economics of Latin America. . . . A wealth of details is provided on the author's presentation, which includes numerous charts and graphs on major issues such as privatization, trade, finance, competitiveness, and social policies. (Choice )

About the Author

Patrice Franko is Grossman Professor of Economics at Colby College.

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; Second Edition edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0742524663
• ISBN-13: 978-0742524668
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful textbook., January 12, 2007

By 

Nandt1 "Nandt1" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development (Paperback)

This is probably the most useful all-round textbook on Latin American economic challenges currently on the market. An important strength is its comprehensiveness: unlike some alternatives, Franko does not dwell on issues of macroeconomic management to the exclusion of important socioeconomic issues such as education, health, rural development, and inequality. The book is evidently designed to support a one semester course, and could be used for either advanced undergraduates or graduate students.

Franko's text is not without its weaknesses. The updating of macro developments from the first edition was undertaken somewhat randomly. Discussions of different viewpoints on Latin American development issues sometimes make overly schematic use of stock figures ("the structuralist", "the neoliberal") that risk becoming caricatures. There is no discussion of the so-called "Washington Consensus" as a whole (indeed the term does not appear in the index). And Franko discusses the thesis of secular decline in commodity prices in an uncritical manner that suggests she may be unaware of recent more skeptical analyses. This said, the book does not suffer from obvious systematic biases, and makes a good-faith effort to present different viewpoints without forcing them down the reader's throat.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Completely Finished Puzzle, February 9, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development (Paperback)

"The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development" is, most of all, an incredible clear book. By beggining with a review of the differences between the concepts of economic development and economic growth, Patrice Franko places the study of the Latin American economy in its appropiate framework. The analysis of the historical evolution, while simple, gives a solid overview of many of the roots of the current economic and social problems of the area. Finally, her wide analysis of typical areas of economic development such as agriculture, health and education highlights problems that are sometimes forgotten by the political actors. It is an indispensable book for those who want to get initiated in the fascinating subject of Latin American Economic Development.