Table of Contents

Introduction by Werner Baer and Donald V. Coes
Baker to Brady to Chance? Tinkering with the Latin American Debt Crisis by David Felix and John Caskey
United States Policies and Latin America's Trade and Debt by Werner Baer and Donald V. Coes
Economic Growth and External Debt: Some Analytical Macroeconomic Issues for the "Baker Plan" by Paul Beckerman
Privatization and the State Sector by William Glade
Economic Performance of Public Enterprises in Latin America: Lessons from Argentina and Brazil by Melissa H. Birch
United States Policies and the Labor Sector in Latin America by Russell E. Smith
Debt Servicing and Its Impact on Financial Markets in Latin America by John H. Welch
U.S. Policy and the Prospects for Latin American Economic Integration by Carlos Primo Braga
Bibliography
Indexes

Promotional Information

This volume analyzes the complex economic relationship between the U.S. and Latin America during the 1980s and into the 1990s. The contributors demonstrate in detail how the latent tensions among sometimes conflicting U.S. policy goals have been exacerbated by the economic crises of Latin America in the 1980s. Among the key topics addressed are the mounting debt crisis, privatization, Latin American integration, and the specific effects of U.S. policies on various aspects of Latin American economies.

About the Author

WERNER BAER is Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois. His previous books include The Brazilian Economy, Third Edition (Praeger, 1989).

DONALD V. COES is Professor of International Management and Associate Director of the Latin American Institute at the University of New Mexico and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Illinois. He is the author of Liberalizing Foreign Trade.

Reviews

?Edited by two senior US scholars in Latin America, this collection deals with the impact of US policies on the economies of Latin America in the 1980s, particularly Latin America's debt problem and US insistence on privatization of state enterprises in these countries. Contributors note the US's decade-long demand, expressed directly and through the International Monetary Fund, for continued payment of the Latin American debt. They trace the impact of this demand on the cessation of economic growth and development in the Latin American countries and on the decline of living standards. They also note that the 1989 "Brady Plan" for writing off some debt was so moderate that it hardly reduced the debt. The question of the so-called "inefficiency" of Latin American state firms is also addressed in some papers. The balance of judgment is that until economic development is resumed in the Latin American countries, neither the debt problem, nor declining standards of living will be resolved. Contributors conclude that fundamental changes in US policy towards Latin America are essential. For upper-division and graduate students of Latin America or international economics.?-Choice

"Edited by two senior US scholars in Latin America, this collection deals with the impact of US policies on the economies of Latin America in the 1980s, particularly Latin America's debt problem and US insistence on privatization of state enterprises in these countries. Contributors note the US's decade-long demand, expressed directly and through the International Monetary Fund, for continued payment of the Latin American debt. They trace the impact of this demand on the cessation of economic growth and development in the Latin American countries and on the decline of living standards. They also note that the 1989 "Brady Plan" for writing off some debt was so moderate that it hardly reduced the debt. The question of the so-called "inefficiency" of Latin American state firms is also addressed in some papers. The balance of judgment is that until economic development is resumed in the Latin American countries, neither the debt problem, nor declining standards of living will be resolved. Contributors conclude that fundamental changes in US policy towards Latin America are essential. For upper-division and graduate students of Latin America or international economics."-Choice