Understanding Latin America's Economy in the Twenty-first Century

Latin America’s economic performance is often depicted as a long sequence of repeated failures, including its contribution to global financial crises as well as its slow growth and intractable inequalities. Its experience in the twenty-first century, however, reveals considerable and underappreciated successes (as well as setbacks). This talk will review the region's growth and development in the last quarter century, including the commodity boom, a surprising decline in economic inequality, responses to the financial and Covid-19 crises, and the emergence of left-leaning governments that opte