Reduced Inequalities
Cuba’s convertible currency debt problem
In the decade of the 1980s, Cuba has confronted a worsening debt problem in terms of convertible currency and in the context of its participation in the world economy. Before 1985, the debt problem appeared to be manageable, indeed it did not seem to be seriously damaging to Cuba’s macroeconomic growth performance, which was strong from 1981 to 1985 in contrast to most other developing country debtors, which underwent profound economic contraction in this period.
The ecopolitics of development in Brazil
How a collectivity deals with nature discloses as much about its internal social relations as the other way around. The present inquiry is a prologue to more detailed study of ecopolitics, to the study of the political philosophy of relations between human beings and nature, exploring the feasibility of integrating the knowledge of the social and of the natural sciences on the interchange between human activities and the cycles of nature. It is also an introduction to the study of a specific type of public policies, those that address issues of resource use and conservation, and the quality of life, especially in the so-called developing countries.
Neo-Keynesian macroeconomics as seen from the South
The central problem in macroeconomics is to determine to what extent variations in aggregate demand will fall exclusively on prices, or whether they will also have an impact on output. The Phillips curve was one answer to this question, but when this attempt at synthesis failed, the issue was reopened.
Women in the region: Major changes
This article addresses concerns relating to the promotion of the advancement of women within the framework of ECLAC’S proposal for changing production patterns with social equity. Virtually all the countries of the region have ratified the mechanisms set up by the United Nations to help attain truly equal treatment for women.
Macroeconomic policies: In search of a synthesis
This article analyses the evolution of the macroeconomic concepts which have prevailed in Latin America from the 1950s until the present. Two main concepts —structuralism and monetarism— have kept up an ongoing counterpoint over this period. The author analyses the main arguments of both currents of opinion and appraises their impact on the design of macroeconomic policies in the various stages of the region s development.
Structural elements of spiralling inflation
This paper reviews some of Prebisch*$ ideas on Inflation and comments on the article by Felipe Pazos which appears in this number of the Review.
The polluter must pay
The principte stated in the title of this article was adopted for the first time at the latertiational level in 1972, by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Basically, it postulates that those responsible for pollution must pay the cost of the measures needed to prevent or reduce such pollution in order to comply with regulations and measures on environmental quality.
Macroeconomic policy coordination and integration
Macroeconomic policy cooivlination is a new topic in the Latin American integration debate. In the light of pronounced macroeconomic instabilities in many Latin American economies, the recent efforts to revitalize regional integration schemes have led to an awareness that differences in national macroeconomic performance, as well as the instability per se, could frustrate advances In regional integration.
Industrial restructuring, trade liberalization and the role of the State in Central America
Industrial restructuring is a response of the industrial sector to a dynamic world. In open market economies, industries continuously adjust to technological change, to changes in fashion, and to changes in relative prices. It is a process that Schumpeter referred to as “creative destruction,” i.e. the replacement of outmoded products and production techniques with new products and techniques.
Erroneous theses on youth in the 1990s
Recent proposals aimed at furthering equality of opportunities for young people are often not backed up by detailed empirical information. This article takes issue with some contentions made in diagnoses on this subject, especially regarding formal education and integration into work, and contrasts them with recent information in this respect.
MERCOSUR and the new circumstances for its integration
This article analyses the evolution since the middle of the past decade in the integration process between Argentina and Brazil which subsequently gave rise to MERCOSUR.
Mexico: The plan and the current situation
Two disequilibria are intertwined in the Mexican economy: incomplete modernization of institutions and production, and external imbalances that have made the country unable to service its external debt. In a context of liberalization, this combination has been conducive to sharp depredations, as evidenced by recent events. The success of the adjustment exercise will depend on the progress of the retooling and expansion of production. This article analyses the main objectives of the National Development Plan for 1995-2000 and the policies that have been implemented to realize them, and shows that the current situation is a patchwork of progress and setbacks.
Export processing in the Caribbean: The Jamaican experience
Export processing, also known as maquila, is a widespread activity in Mexico and Central America and is becoming increasingly important to economies in the Caribbean. Countries of the subregion have successfully attracted both foreign and domestic investment in offshore data processing and in the assembly and manufacture of garments, footwear, electrical and electronic equipment, toys and other goods for export. Investors are attracted by low labour costs, freedom from foreign exchange controls and bureaucratic restrictions, and by the promise of exemption from all taxes, including taxes on profits and duties on imports of equipment, raw materials and intermediate goods used in production for export.
Social structures and democracy in the 1990s
This article gives a broad overview of the social structures on which democracy will have to be based in the 1990s. These structures continue to be heterogeneous, and the crisis has made them more unstable, as previous aspirations are falling by the wayside and most of the groups are living in conditions of greater insecurity and poverty, although some new possibilities of upward mobility are emerging, even among the most seriously marginated strata. The political parties and movements are in a process of evolution and are unsure of the forces they will be called on to represent and the validity of their traditional ideologies; for the most part, however, they have attained a higher level of realism and a willingness co temporize with a view to the consolidation of broad social pacts at the cost of a reduction in their aspirations and an inability to offer their followers an inspiring mythology.
Econometric models for planning
The use of models in planning is almost as old as formalized planning itself, initiated in Latin America in the 1960s. Planning models were developed and used at both government and international agency levels, generally as simple analytical structures derived from the Harrod-Domar growth equation.
A pragmatic approach to State intervention: The brazilian case
This article examiaes State intervention in the Brazilian economy, in an attempt to elucidate why the State ceased to play a decisive part in the country’s development. The primary explanation lies in the cyclical nature of State intervention. In the beginning, intervention tended to be very successful, especially when the country was launching its industrialization phase. Gradually, however, the distortions inherent in intervention without some form of market control began to accumulate, leading the State into fiscal crisis. The current neoliberal wave and its success in advocating privatizations can be understood in these terms.
External events, domestic policies and structural adjustment
This article examines the drop in the per capita product of the region from 1981 onwards due hotli to the stagnation of per capita production capacity and the fact that the effective product was less than the potential product. Production capacity stagnated because investment fell to levels which were not high enough to ensure growth in the potential per capita product. This decline in investment, in turn, was due basically to the net transfers of resources abroad caused by the debt crisis and the severe deterioration in the terms of trade as from 1982.
Runaway inflation; experiences and options
Inflation was a major concern for Prebisch from his time in central banking np to the end of his career, when he stressed the need for new thinking by Latin American economists about stabilization policy. The topic is of vital importance, not only for Latin America, but also for the world in general, for specialists in industrialized countries have also been unable to elaborate policy recommendations for their governments that will resolve the dilemma between inflation and monetary restriction.
The old logics of the new international economic order
The institutional environment of international economic co-operation is based on harmony between national and international interests. Conflicts between those interests can be expected to arise, however, in a period of major industrial transition marked by changes in international competition and in production technology, such as that of recent years. The factor of power, so often neglected in the discussions of international economic co-operation, comes up distinctively when a country tries to change the international rules to maintain its competitive position as an industrial power. This article analyses in particular the relations between Brazil and the United States in this respect.
Transnational corporations and export-oriented primary commodities
This article presents in some detail a general conceptual framework intended to provide guidelines for the study of negotiations between governments and transnational corporations in connexion with export-oriented primary commodities. If the developing countries have greatly improved their bargaining position vis-á-vis the transnational corporations during the past few decades, this is due not only to changes in economic and political power relations at the world level but also to the pooling of increasingly detailed knowledge of all the factors which strengthen the hand of the governments in their dealings with the corporations.