Origin and magnitude of the recessionary adjustment in Latin America

Notwithstanding the enormous efforts made by the Latin American countries in the last five years to adjust their economies and despite the fact that the citizens of the developed nations are enjoying the benefits of the longest expansionary phase in the postwar period, the great majority of the peoples of the region find themselves immersed in one of the most profound economic crises in their history. They are enduring simultaneously a severe external constraint; levels of production and employment substantially and increasingly below their trend values; and, in many cases, inflations of exceptional virulence, although since mid-1985, several countries have achieved spectacular advances towards price stabilization.