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    Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America
    Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America
    Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America
    Ebook86 pages56 minutes

    Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America

    By Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez

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    About this ebook

    Latin American economies enjoyed substantial growth in the early years of the twenty-first century, but the financial crisis beginning in 2008 called into question the sustainability of that progress. What are the keys to lasting prosperity in Central and South America? How can the benefits of wealth creation be widely distributed so as to ameliorate the poverty that has been endemic to the region? Do populist calls for vigorous government action represent the cure for what has ailed Latin America? Drawing on the findings of development economics and the wisdom of Catholic social teaching, Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez answers these questions by focusing attention on the institutions—rule of law, property, family—by which the people of Latin America can secure for themselves a bright future.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherActon Institute
    Release dateMay 14, 2012
    ISBN9781880595602
    Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America

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      Book preview

      Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America - Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez

      Financial Crisis, Populism, and the Path to Prosperity in Latin America

      Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez

      Christian Social Thought Series

      Smashwords Edition

      Copyright © 2012 by Acton Institute

      An imprint of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion & Liberty

      Edition License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

      CONTENTS

      Foreword

      I. Introduction

      II. The Financial Crisis of 2008: Latin America

      III. The Crisis and Poverty in Latin America

      IV. Incentives and Institutions

      V. Lesson Learned, Reform Deferred, and the Return of Populism

      VI. Conclusion

      References

      About the Author

      FOREWORD

      During his visit to Brazil in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI called Latin America the continent of hope. Similarly, economists, sociologists, and others have frequently noted the entrepreneurial flair of the people of Latin America, pointing to their innovative ways of meeting their needs and those of others in the face of obstacles and hardship.

      These descriptions are ambivalent. They envision a bright future but also imply that much potential has thus far been unrealized. Many nations of Central and South America have enjoyed occasional periods of growth and prosperity, yet sustained economic progress adequate to solve the problem of poverty in the region has been elusive.

      How to unlock the potential inherent in the creative and talented people of developing nations is a question that has been debated for decades. Pope Paul VI focused the Catholic Church’s attention on the problem of drastic international inequalities of wealth in 1967 when he published Populorum Progressio. Since then, the world community has learned from experience that a simplistic model of direct aid from governments of rich nations to governments of poor nations is woefully inadequate. Drawing on the experience of intervening years as well as the timeless wisdom of Christian doctrine, Pope Benedict XVI reiterated Paul VI’s call for attention to the world’s poor in his encyclical of 2009, Caritas in Veritate.

      As Benedict suggests, the obligations of wealthy nations to do what is in their power to assist the development of poor nations remains. Even more, the obligation of individual Christians who are relatively well off to assist those who are less fortunate must be proclaimed and embraced.

      Yet, Benedict also stresses emphatically the responsibilities of governments and citizens within developing nations. In large measure, they are the actors whose decisions will determine whether the economic potential of developing nations will be realized—and, more importantly, whether their own potential as human beings, capable of expressing love of God and neighbor through meaningful work, will be fulfilled.

      This focus on the capacity of Latin Americans themselves for bringing about the transformation of their lives inspires this book. Professor Carroll Ríos de Rodríguez combines economic expertise with deep understanding of the region’s history, culture, and politics. She demonstrates that the social teaching of the Church, with its focus on the human person, aligns with the findings of development economics concerning the necessity of sound and vibrant institutions such as the family, property rights, and rule of law. These institutions provide the environment within which individual initiative and creativity may freely operate.

      If such wisdom, rather than the destructive politics of class conflict, wins the day throughout Latin America, then the likelihood increases that hope and promise will come to fruition in sustained prosperity and human flourishing.

      Kevin Schmiesing

      Acton Institute

      * * * * *

      I

      Introduction

      For a long time it was thought that poor peoples should remain at a fixed stage of development, and should be content to receive assistance from the philanthropy of developed peoples.… Today the material resources available for rescuing these peoples from poverty are potentially greater than before.… The worldwide diffusion of forms of prosperity should not therefore be held up by projects that are self-centered, protectionist or at the service of private interests. Indeed the involvement of emerging or developing countries allows us to manage the crisis better today.

      Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in Veritate, no. 42

      Did the world financial crisis that erupted in 2008 affect the poor in Latin America? The short answer is yes. Most economies in Latin America are highly interdependent with European and United States markets through commercial ties. The five years leading up to the economic quake had been good to Latin America, and now the

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