1,721,833 research outputs found
Losers pay reparations, or how the Third World lost the lending war
No full textIn the late 1970s, the economies of Latin America and Africa entered into an economic depression worse than that of the 1930s, plunging the populations of these countries to levels of poverty and unemployment of a decade before. A disturbing aspect of this profound economic and social crisis is that most of the concern of the international community has focused on what in human terms is a minor side effect of this catastrophic depression—the inability of governments to service their foreign debts. In any rational world, the financial side of the crisis would be the least of our worries,..
Macroeconomic Adjustment and Latin American Agriculture Since 1980
No full textAfter over a decade of macroeconomic adjustment it is appropriate to assess the impact of policy changes on agriculture in Latin America. While there have been many reviews of the changes in macroeconomic policy in the region (eg., Bulmer-Thomas, 1992; Fanelli, Frenkel and Rozenwurcel, 1990) and of sectoral polices for agriculture (eg., FAO, 1992d), there have been relatively few overall reviews of agricultural performance such as one finds in such profusion for sub-Saharan Africa (perhaps because aggregate economic performance is so dominated by agriculture in that region). An up-to-date review is all the more timely at the moment when for Africa a consensus is developing that multilateral adjustment programmes have had quite a mixed impact on agriculture.1 A balanced assessment is also in order in light of a recent World Bank multi-volume study that includes several Latin American countries and reaches quite strong conclusions on the basis of a controversial methodology
Introduction
No full textOver the last twenty years, several Latin American countries have become major exporters of manufactures, with the share in total exports rising from 11 per cent in 1970 to 33 per cent in 1990 (IDB, 1992, p. 196). However, agricultural exports remained a major source of foreign exchange for the region, accounting for about 40 per cent of the value of regional exports in the early 1990s and, of course, much more than this for a number of individual countries. For the foreseeable future, the performance of the agricultural sector, which accounts for but ten per cent of regional Gross Domestic Product, will have a major impact on the balance of payments for most countries in the region. If it is somewhat anachronistic to propose an agriculture-led growth strategy for the region (De Janvry and Sadolet, 1989), it remains the case that agriculture will continue to play a major role as a generator of foreign exchange and the source of livelihood for a large portion of the low-income population of the region
The Nicaraguan Stabilisation Programme of 1989 and Prospects for Recovery
No full textThrough the 1980s, the Nicaraguan economy showed increasing signs of crisis. By 1984 the economy was in decline (see Table 2.1), in 1985 inflation reached triple digits, and 1988 took the monetary economy into chaos with hyperinflation. Beginning in 1985, the government responded to the accumulating difficulties by introducing demand-depressing measures, though these proved ineffective, perhaps even disfunctional (INIES, nd; chapter III). In early 1988 the Sandinista government introduced a draconian package of fiscal and monetary reforms, accompanied by the issuance of a new currency unit in February, in which 1000 old córdobas exchanged for one new. Still the crisis of the monetary economy worsened, indicated by a rate of inflation that year of over 30000 per cent, accompanied by a devaluing of the official exchange rate from 80 new córdobas to the dollar to 7000 in the space of a year (February 1988 to February 1989)
A Tale of Two Transitions: Cuba and Vietnam
No full textAt the end of the 1980s, the collapse of the Soviet Union brought forth drastic economic adjustments in some thirty countries (over half of which had not previously been independent). For almost all of these, the adjustments would involve a fundamental change in economic, political and social organization, with a substantial minority combining this with debilitating civil wars, separatist conflicts or armed border disputes. In the short run, the governments faced an immediate balance of payments crisis. With a few exceptions, the trade of these countries had been concentrated within COMECON; in the cases of the former Soviet Republics trade had been largely internal to the USSR. Thus, all but a few of the countries (e.g., China) encountered a common problem, to convert from COMECON trade to trade in ‘hard’ currencies
Introduction
No full textThere is a general acceptance of myths about government finances and economic management that comes from a lack of understanding of public spending and taxation. Lack of understanding turns into misunderstanding under the assault of propaganda, and provides fertile soil for converting myth into accepted wisdom. Knowledge provides the mechanism to dispel these myths, to reveal accepted wisdom as myth. Informed citizens are the foundation of democratic society. By participating through democratic institutions citizens facilitate effective government, and understanding government finances is central to that participation
Alternative Responses to Globalization
No full textThe 1930s was a decade of world depression, followed by turmoil with a devastating world war. The last decade of the century witnessed equally dramatic events, including the collapse of the so-called Socialist Bloc. This collapse of a geopolitical bloc ushered in a period of spectacular and appalling economic chaos, which at the end of the century continued to wax and wane. This volume has considered in detail two countries which have tried to manage their economies to avoid such chaos, Cuba and Vietnam. Looking back at the contributions, one can ask, are there lessons to be learned from the experience of these two countries
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