Dr Alejandra Irigoin, SAR.6.15

This course is available to General Course ‘Spring Semester’ students.

The course examines the development trajectory of Latin America and its relation with the international economy from the modern period (c. 1900) to the present. It focuses on the political and economic factors derived from the region’s engagement with the world attending to the environment, population and factor endowments, institutions and policies. The  drivers and outcomes of this 'engagement' will be explored in the following broad themes: the integration of the region into the world economy in the classic Globalization period, the ambivalent relation with international markets and institutions following the Great Depression “de-globalization”; the ‘inwards’ shift  to development by industrialization and internal markets expansion; the economic aspects of different political experiments - from authoritarian to democratic regimes and various generations of populism interspersed with military rule and direct democracy; the financial and macroeconomic crises that such models of growth bequeathed; the short and long run effects of economic policies and institutional reforms on equality, poverty and on the prospect for sustained growth.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 20 hours across Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual classes and flipped-lectures.

This course includes a reading week in Week 6 of Lent Term.

Students are expected to write a short weekly report, to be presented verbally, either individually or in a team throughout the course.

V. Bulmer-Thomas (2014) The Economic History of Latin America since Independence, Cambridge University Press, Ibid. (2012) The Economic History of the Caribbean since the Napoleonic Wars, Cambridge University Press; P. Franko, (2007) The puzzle of Latin American economic development, Rowman & Littlefield; J. L. Gallup, (2003) Is geography destiny?: lessons from Latin America, World Bank; E. Stein, et al. (2008) Policymaking in Latin America: how politics shapes policies, IADB; V. Bulmer-Thomas, JH Coatsworth, and R. Cortés Conde (2006) The Cambridge Economic History of Latin America, Cambridge University Press 2 vols; Ocampo, JA, and Ross, J (2011). The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Economics. Oxford: Oxford University Press;  Bértola, L and Ocampo, JA (2012), The economic development of Latin America since independence. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Scartascini, CG., Stein E. and Tommasi, M (2010). How democracy works: political institutions, actors, and arenas in Latin American policymaking. [Washington, D.C.]: IADB; Blake, C.H (2007) Politics in Latin America 2nd edition Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company. Edwards, S, Esquivel, G & Márquez, G. (2007) The decline of Latin American economies growth, institutions, and crises. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Bethell, L. (1984/2008) The Cambridge History of Latin America, Cambridge University Press, vols IV and VI

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.