A LITTLE BACKGROUND ON THE “CHICAGO BOYS” FOR THOSE WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR:
SOURCE: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Boys
The Chicago Boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of whom trained at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, or at its affiliate in the economics department at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.
Upon their return to Latin America they adopted positions in numerous South American governments including the Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–90). As economic advisors, many of them reached high positions within those.
The Heritage Foundation credits them with transforming Chile into Latin America’s best performing economy and one of the world’s most business-friendly jurisdictions.
However, critics point to drastic increases in unemployment that can be attributed to policies implemented on their advice to fight inflation. Some (such as Nobel laureate Amartya Sen) have argued that these policies were deliberately intended to serve the interests of American corporations at the expense of Latin American populations.
Peter Kornbluh states that in the case of Chile, American attempts to influence the Chilean economy ceased once the Chicago Boys had gained political influence; this may have been the true underlying cause of the subsequent increase in economic growth.
Thanks for explaining. The Chicago Boys description threw me off a bit. I just presumed she meant ‘tough guy or Mafia’ style.
I think it is important to remember the other ingredient to economic success. Hernando de Soto wrote: “The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else” to explain that free trade and a lively economy are not enough.
This great book explains that being able to capitalize property is also invaluable to an economy waking from lethargy.
He shows why the poor in many countries keep gold, and other precious metals and gems, as the only repository of their capital. He explains how our western system of property rights allows the USA, the UK and other western cultures to collateralize property in a way the the poor latin nations and Arab nations cannot.