Debt, Development, and Democracy: Modern Political Economy and Latin America, 1965-1985

by Jeffry A. Frieden

In the 1970s and 1980s the countries of Latin America dealt with their similar debt problems in very different ways--ranging from militantly market-oriented approaches to massive state intervention in their economies--while their political systems headed toward either democracy or authoritarianism. Applying the tools of modern political economy to a developing-country context, Jeffry Frieden analyzes the different patterns of national economic and political behavior that arose in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Venezuela. This book will be useful to those interested in comparative politics, international studies, development studies, and political economy more generally. "Jeffry Frieden weaves together a powerful theoretical framework with comparative case studies of the region's five largest debtor states. The result is the most insightful analysis to date of how the interplay between politics and economics in post-war Latin America set the stage for the dramatic events of the 1980s."--Carol Wise, Center for Politics and Policy, Claremont Graduate School

300 pages, Paperback

First published September 10, 1991

About the author

Jeffry A. Frieden teaches at Harvard University. He is the author of Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century, and the co-author of Lost Decades: The Making of America's Debt Crisis and the Long Recovery.

Reviews

[Serge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using this book with my Sophomore World Humanities class to understand the economic roots of the political crises in Venezuela over the last half century. The lasting echo of the 1980s debt crisis and the inability of Accion Democratica and COPEI to address the corrosive debt financed public spending on infrastructure projects explain the appeal of Chavismo after forced austerity when the dollar plummets in 1986 and Venezuela teeters through the fateful late 90s ascent of a populist demagogue