Economic Development of Latin America: Historical Background and Contemporary Problems

Abstract

2d ed. Reprint of 2nd edition published: Cambridge University Press, 1976. "This is an introductory survey of the history and recent development of Latin American economy and society from colonial times to the establishment of the military regime in Chile. In the second edition the historical perspective has been enlarged and important events since the Cuban Revolution, such as the agrarian reforms of Peru and Chile, the difficulties of the Central America Common Market and LAFTA, the acceleration of industrialisation in Brazil and the consolidation of the Cuban economy, are discussed. The statistical information has been extended to the early 1970s and the demographic data to 1975"--Back cover. Part I. From the Conquest to the Formation of Nation-States. 1. Introduction: the land and the people --- 2. Economic and social background of the territorial occupation --- 3. First half of the nineteenth century ---- Part II. Entry into the System of International Division of Labour. 4. The transformation of international trade in the second half of the nineteenth century and its impact on Latin America --- 5. Reorientation of the international economy in the present century --- 6. Some indicators of the degree of development reached in Latin America ---- Part III. The Traditional Structural Pattern. 7. Characteristics of agrarian structures --- 8. Distribution and utilisation of the social income --- 9. Monetary and foreign exchange systems ---- Part IV. Characteristics of the Industrialisation Process. 10. The industrialisation process (i) --- 11. The industrialisation process (ii) --- 12. Imbalances created by import-substituting industrialisation: structural inflation ---- Part V. Reorientation of Development in the Recent Period. 13. Evolution of macroeconomic structures --- 14. Agricultural sector --- 15. Industrial sector --- 16. Inadequate growth and the reorientation of development ---- Part VI. International Relations. 17. Traditional forms of external dependence --- 18. New forms of external dependence --- 19. Towards the restructuring of the international economy ---- Part VII. Intra-Regional Relations. 20. Integration process in Central America --- 21. LAFTA and the Andean group ---- Part VIII. Structural Reconstruction Policies. 22. Economic planning experiments --- 23. Agrarian reforms --- 24. Economic aspects of the Cuban Revolution ---- 25. Present problems and prospects.