Silent Revolution

Latin America is going through an economic revolution. Formerly protectionist economies from Argentina to Mexico are turning to the market in a desperate search for growth and prosperity. Duncan Green traces the roots of this transformation in the debt crisis, subsequent International Monetary Fund austerity policies, and the failure of state-led economies in Latin America and elsewhere. He contrasts the new model's mixed macroeconomic record with its devastating impact on the poor following the search for more effective and just alternatives to what has become an economic model enshrined as the new "common sense" in the region. This work combines first-hand accounts of neoliberalism in action, from fruit pickers in Chile to Mexican stockbrokers, with a clear presentation for the non-specialist reader of the economic issues at stake.