The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 712 pages
• Published by: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; 3 Rev Upd edition March 28, 2007
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0742553531
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0742553538
• Book Dimensions: 9.9 x 6.9 x 1.5 inches
• Weighs: 2.6 pounds

Product Description
Thoroughly revised and updated, this text provides the basic economic tools for students to understand the problems facing the countries of Latin America. In this third edition, Patrice Franko analyzes challenges to the neoliberal model of development and highlights recent macroeconomic changes in the region. Including charts and tables with the most current data available, the book also offers a wealth of new boxed discussions and vignettes. After a brief historical overview, Franko builds a contemporary model of regional development. She explores the contradictions of growth, especially in the context of overcoming intractable problems of poverty, education, health, and discrimination. Franko focuses on factors of competitiveness, including labor markets, technology, and infrastructure challenges. Liberally interspersed with examples and case studies, the author successfully combines theory and its application in the real world.

About The Author
Patrice Franko is professor of economics and international studies, Colby College. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development (Paperback) This is probably the most useful all-round textbook on Latin American economic challenges currently on the market. An important strength is its comprehensiveness: unlike some alternatives, Franko does not dwell on issues of macroeconomic management to the exclusion of important socioeconomic issues such as education, health, rural development, and inequality. The book is evidently designed to support a one semester course, and could be used for either advanced undergraduates or graduate students. Franko's text is not without its weaknesses. The updating of macro developments from the first edition was undertaken somewhat randomly. Discussions of different viewpoints on Latin American development issues sometimes make overly schematic use of stock figures ("the structuralist", "the neoliberal") that risk becoming caricatures. There is no discussion of the so-called "Washington Consensus" as a whole (indeed the term does not appear in the index). And Franko discusses the thesis of secular decline in commodity prices in an uncritical manner that suggests she may be unaware of recent more skeptical analyses. This said, the book does not suffer from obvious systematic biases, and makes a good-faith effort to present different viewpoints without forcing them down the reader's throat.