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$27.95 Hardcover 228 pages 6.4 x 9.6 inches ISBN 0-19-511176-1 Co-publisher: Oxford University Press © 1997   THE CAPITALIST REVOLUTION IN LATIN AMERICA By Karen LaFollette Araujo, Paul Craig Roberts Foreword by Peter T. Bauer While the political and social upheavals that have transformed Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union have attracted great interest, an even more remarkable revolution has been taking place next door to the United States and Canada—the spread of free market capitalism throughout much of Latin America. For years, Latin American economic development lagged despite abundant natural resources, vast fertile lands, and a sophisticated culture. This was because Latin American nations were slow to discard the economic and social controls inherited from their Spanish colonial masters, who had ruled by selling government privilege and by suppressing indigenous markets for goods, services, and capital. This book describes the efforts to combat established local plutocratic elites and international agencies in order to privatize state industries and establish independent markets. The author re-examine the orthodoxies of international development and the regulation of markets, and point to the success of rapidly growing, open markets in Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. This book provides an insightful portrait of the dramatic economic turn-around, with crucial lessons for the United States. Detailed Summary

Table of Contents

• Chapter 1: Latin America on the Rise
• Chapter 2: The Economic Transformation of Latin America
• Chapter 3: The Blocked Society
• Chapter 4: Development Planners in Their Heyday
• Chapter 5: Latin America’s Statist Traditions
• Chapter 6: Outdated International Development Institutions
• Chapter 7: Implications of Latin American Capitalism

Praise for The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America

“The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America is a compelling blend of substance and ideas—illuminates the ‘why’ of revolution in economies in Latin America—and elsewhere—and the need for revolution in the multilateral financial institutions. Readable and rewarding.”
—GEORGE P. SHULTZ, former Secretary of State, Labor and the Treasury; Distinguished Fellow, Hoover Institution

“Latin America is not a poor content, but rather one impoverished by 500 years of statism. If you want to understand how the market revolution is freeing us from that bondage, you must read this book.”
—JOSE PINERA, former Finance Minister of Chile; President, International Center for Pension Reform

“Eye-opening appraisals of the extraordinary potential of Latin American countries: The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America is essential reading for those who have, or wish to have, commercial relations with our neighboring continent. Roberts and Araujo brilliantly combine a free market philosophical perspective with a proper appreciation of the region’s history.”
—STEVE FORBES, Editor-in-Chief, Forbes

“While the world’s attention has been focused on the demise of socialism and planning in Central and Eastern Europe, the quite remarkable liberalization of markets—both international and domestic—that has occurred in Latin America has gone largely unnoticed. Roberts and Araujo now bring us the story of the tortuous path that has brought capitalism and markets to Latin America.”
—D. GALE JOHNSON, Professor of Economics, University of Chicago

“Lessons from socialist failures have been learned more quickly in Latin America than in Europe or the United States. The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America lays out the record of Latin American accomplishments to date, along with a precautionary assessment of near-term prospects.”
—JAMES M. BUCHANAN, Nobel Laureate in Economic Science, George Mason University

“The lesson of The Capitalist Revolution in Latin America is evident: Only open economies and open socieities provide an adequate framework for prosperity.”
—PEDRO ASPE, former Finance Minister of Mexico

About the Authors

Karen LaFollette Araujo is president of the Hemispheric Studies Institute.