From the IADB' Ethics and Development Newsletter: "Inequality in Latin America: a synthesis of recent research on the levels, trends, effects and determinants of inequality in its different dimensions" by Patricia Medrano, Claudia Sanhueza, and Dante Contreras for the Inter-Regional Inequality Facility The Inter-Regional Inequality Facility exists to promote inter-regional dialogue and knowledge sharing on the issue of inequality...   more »

Javier Santiso’s new book Latin America’s Political Economy of the Possible (MIT Press: Cambridge Massachusetts, 2006) is a more thoughtful consideration of current trends in Latin American economics and politics than other commentators have mustered in this fraught year of electoral campaigns.  It is also written with passion and demonstrates an enviable facility with the history, literature and politics of the Latin American region.  However, it doesn’t quite live up to the praise on the back cover from notable academic luminaries.   There are some substantive limitations of the book, and some which are more stylistic.  ...   more »

Yesterday global financial markets faced their worst sell of since the Russian default and Asian crisis of 1997-98. The Brazilian and Mexican stock markets – two of the largest in the developing world – closed massively down, as did those in Turkey, Russia, Indonesia and India (“Emerging markets lead global decline” 22 May and “Equities tumble worldwide” 23 May, both www.ft.com ) . What are the implications for this renewal in financial market volatility? What will its impact be on Latin American economies and polities?   more »

Some commentators of current Latin American political issues (see for example the article by Jorge Castañeda in the last number of Foreign Affairs) have recently focused their attention on the distinction between two types of left emerging in the continent: a populist extremist left and a social-democratic moderate left. The populist left, exemplified by Chavez, Kirchner, Morales, Humala and López Obrador, which Castañeda defines as the “wrong” type, would only be driven by its interest in holding tightly the reins of power with no real interest in the development of their countries. On the other hand the moderate social-democratic left, the “right” left, represented by Bachelet, Lula and Vázquez, would be involved in more responsible and sustainable policy-making.    more »

Between December 2005 and December 2006, 12 countries in Latin America will hold elections, with important implications for regional politics and economics. The purpose of this meeting series is to discuss what the effects of these elections will be on the region as a whole, and on particular countries, with a focus on Brazil , Mexico and Peru . It will serve as a discussion session for larger issues on the quality of democracy, governance, institutions and economics in Latin America , and the comparative lessons that might be drawn from the democratisation process the region is experiencing.

 

The ...   more »

ODI’s recently formed Latin American and Caribbean Group consists of ODI researchers with a wide variety of interests in, and experiences of, Latin America.  In particular, Enrique Mendizabal carries out research on civil society and networks, Lauren Philips on financial markets and Alina Rocha Menocal on governance.  You can view members of the group here http://www.odi.org.uk/lacg/pages/who_we_are.html.

 

We have set up a website which will be built up over the next few months to contain a wealth of resources on economics, politics and civil society as well as blogs, events and links http://www.odi.org.uk/lacg/ . 

 

We hosted a ...   more »