The YCSG has hosted Part I of a multi-stage program to examine Latin America’s failure to deliver on the results promised by the economic and political reforms launched in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. Our aim is to convene a select group of Latin American economists and political scientists, from academia and the policy world, to debate and possibly reach sound conclusions on the reasons for the region’s failure to grow and the best policies to overcome this Latin American stalemate.

On November 19 and 20, 2004 the YCSG convened a group of young Latin American experts, who presented their research and shared their ideas. As a next step, Andrés Velasco was commissioned to write a paper for the project. The paper, Why Doesn't Latin American Grow More, and What Can We Do About It? is under discussion among the Colloquium participants and will be considered by more senior Latin American experts in a second workshop.

Part I
November 19 and 20, 2004
Papers
Latin American Colloquium
Terms of Reference
Latin America, with the exception of Chile, is failing to deliver on the results promised by the economic and political reforms launched in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. GDP per capita has been practically stagnant for several years and very little progress has been made in reducing poverty since the reforms were started. More worrisome is that a large proportion of Latin Americans have begun to have a very negative, or at least skeptical, attitude towards democracy. According to recent polls, more than half of Latin American citizens would be willing to accept a non-democratic system if this were to deliver better economic and social results. Populism –which historically was the foreword of authoritarian regimes in the region- is having a strong comeback. The bottom line of the Latin American situation is the failure to grow. Lack of growth impedes both the creation of employment and the availability of resources to finance social policies to combat poverty and improve the income distribution.

Most of the debate about Latin America’s failure to grow has centered in the discussion of the effects that the policies identified with the so-called Washington Consensus have had in the region. It has become commonplace to say that Latin America has failed because it applied the Washington Consensus –whatever that means for each individual observer. Critics of policies associated with fiscal responsibility and more open markets are articulating programs to counter the reforms based on the idea that these reforms are really to be blamed for the disappointing results. Given the region’s economic and geopolitical importance, a few more years of slow or erratic economic progress in Latin America would not only dramatically deepen its social problems but would also pose a serious threat to global stability.