Overview

The collapse of the Argentine economy in 2001, involving the extraordinary default on $150 billion in debt, has been blamed variously on the failure of neoliberal policies or on the failure of the Argentine government to pursue those policies vigorously enough during the 1990s. But this is too myopic a view, Klaus Veigel contends, to provide a fully satisfactory explanation of how a country enjoying one of the highest standards of living at the end of the nineteenth century became a virtual economic basket case by the end of the twentieth. Veigel asks us to take the long view of Argentina's efforts to re-create the conditions for stability and consensus that had brought such great success during the country's first experience with globalization a century ago. The experience of war and depression in the late 1930s and early 1940s had discredited the earlier reliance on economic liberalism. In its place came a turn toward a corporatist system of interest representation and state-led, inward-oriented economic policies. But as major changes in the world economy heralded a new era of globalization in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the corporatist system broke down, and no social class or economic interest group was strong enough to create a new social consensus with respect to Argentina's economic order and role in the world economy. The result was political paralysis leading to economic stagnation as both civilian and military governments oscillated between protectionism and liberalization in their economic policies, which finally brought the country to its nadir in 2001.

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The publication of Klaus Veigel's book comes at an opportune time, for it provides a valuable guide through the complexities of contemporary Argentinean economic history--in particular the politics of economic policy making from the mid-1970s to the early 2000s. This book should appeal not only to country specialists but also to a wider cohort of readers. . . .[Veigel's] book goes farther than most previous works in connecting domestic trends with international conditions as the narrative tacks skillfully between politically divided Argentina and global players like the International Monetary Fund and the Federal Reserve Bank. Dictatorship, Democracy and Globalization ultimately offers a cautionary tale about Argentina's economic trajectory and future prospects, one that reaches conclusions not all readers will share but that is thoroughly researched and worth considering carefully. Eduardo Elena, The Americas

Author Information

Klaus Friedrich Veigel works as a strategy consultant for the energy industry. He lives in Washington, D.C.

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