Introduction : Debating the new terrain --Dragonomics : an internationalized development strategy --A slow thaw across the Pacific : From socialist revolution to pragmatic reform --From state to market : A fork in the reform road --Making openness work : Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru --An institutional resource curse in Argentina and Brazil --Ratcheting down the industrial ladder in Mexico --Latin America's pivot toward Asia.
This book explores the impact of Chinese growth on Latin America since the early 2000s. Roughly twenty years ago, Chinese entrepreneurs headed to the Western Hemisphere in search of profits and commodities, specifically those that China lacked and that some Latin American countries held in abundance -- copper, iron ore, crude oil, soybeans, and fish meal. Focusing largely on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Peru, Carol Wise traces the evolution of political and economic ties between China and these countries and analyzes how success has varied by sector, project, and country. She also assesses the costs and benefits of Latin America's recent pivot toward Asia. Wise argues that while opportunities for closer economic integration with China are seemingly infinite, so are the risks, and contends that the best outcomes have stemmed from endeavors where the rule of law, regulatory oversight, and a clear strategy exist on the Latin American side.
This essay reviews the following works:The Politics of Market Discipline in Latin America: Globalization and Democracy. By Daniela Campello. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Pp. viii + 239. $29.99 paper. ISBN: 9781107649866.Private Wealth and Public Revenue in Latin America: Business Power and Tax Politics. By Tasha Fairfield. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015. Pp. viii + 333. $34.99 paper. ISBN: 9781107459090.Globalization and the Distribution of Wealth: The Latin American Experience, 1982–2008. By Arie M. Kacowicz. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Pp. vii + 248. $29.99 paper. ISBN: 9781107499744.Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America. By Stephen B. Kaplan. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Pp. xi + 331. $20.99 paper ISBN: 9781107670761.The International Monetary Fund and Latin America: The Argentine Puzzle in Context. By Claudia Kedar. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2013. Pp. ix + 251. $74.50 cloth. ISBN: 9781439909119.Designing Industrial Policy in Latin America: Business-State Relations and the New Developmentalism. By Ben Ross Schneider. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. Pp. vii + 101. $70.00 cloth. ISBN: 9781137524836.
As China reached a more mature stage of export‐led development at the turn of the millennium, Chinese demand soared for the very commodities that are highly abundant in Latin America. Prices for copper (Chile), iron ore (Brazil), soybeans (Argentina), fishmeal (Peru), and oil (Argentina and Brazil) reached new historical highs. The result was an average annual growth rate of 5–7% in these Latin American emerging economies from 2003 to 2012, but the slowing of Chinese growth in 2012 and the saturation of demand for these commodities has meant the onset of recession in these same economies. This article explores the themes of dynamism in the China–Latin America relationship and the debates about these rapidly growing economic ties across the Pacific. It also seeks to establish a more nuanced definition of Latin America's dependence on external commodity markets in the new millennium. Three main questions are explored: (1) what gains have been made in these countries as a result of this incredible growth boom? (2) what are the policy shortcomings of this era? and, (3) what is the path forward, in terms of policy responses and further reforms, now that Chinese demand for these commodities has clearly waned?
One of the most prominent trends in Latin America in the 2000s has been the proliferation of bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) across the Pacific basin. Beginning with the path-breaking Chile-Korea FTA in 2004 up to the Costa Rica-Singapore FTA in 2013, the past decade has seen the negotiation of twenty-two cross-Pacific accords. China, too, has jumped on to the cross-Pacific FTA bandwagon, including its negotiation of separate bilateral FTAs with Chile (2006), Peru (2009), and Costa Rica (2011). This paper analyzes the origins, content, and preliminary outcomes of these three China-Latin America FTAs. The findings are threefold: 1) in contrast with other cross-Pacific FTAs, which include at least one developed country, the three FTAs analyzed in this paper constitute "south-south" FTAs; yet, in contrast with other south-south FTAs, these three China-Latin America accords approximate WTO+ standards vis-à-vis the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its new trade agenda (services, investment, and intellectual property rights); 2) although the motives for negotiating these developing- developing country accords varied, on the part of China and the countries themselves, this did not disrupt the march toward WTO+ status; and 3) while all three of these FTAs elude standard theoretical explanations for the negotiation of bilateral FTAs, the three Latin American countries do share similar reform trajectories and institutional affinities, which sheds light on the decision and capacity of each to negotiate a bilateral FTA with China. (Pac Aff/GIGA)
Desde 1935 hasta 1990 el desarrollo energético del Perú se basó en un aparente escenario de explotación del petróleo y en la falta de compromiso del Estado para explotar el gas natural. Tanto es así, que se caracterizó por el uso excesivamente politizado de herramientas de política que contribuyeron a su atraso en más de 20 años. No obstante, la aprobación de una nueva legislación modernizadora en la década de 1990 estableció un nuevo impulso de crecimiento en dicho sector. El presente documento analiza cada una de las etapas por las que ha atravesado el país para fomentar una posición competitiva en el sector energético. Desde costosas exploraciones y extracciones de petróleo ejecutadas por capital netamente extranjero en la década de 1930, hasta la expropiación por parte del Estado de la empresa canadiense lnternational Petroleum Company en 1968 y el camino a convertirse en un país netamente importador de petróleo. También se analiza el seudo-desarrollo hidroeléctrico que afrontó el Estado con falta de capacidad de gestión y principalmente la falta de recursos económicos que no pudieron ser apalancados ni con el sector privado. A todo esto siguió el escenario alentador de la década de 1990, cuando el gobierno de Fujimori, después de corregir todos los problemas económico-financieros generados en el gobierno de García, puso en marcha un conjunto de medidas que apuntaban hacia la privatización del sector. Entre ellas destacan la creación de procesos regulatorios, la protección del derecho de los pueblos nativos que se ubican alrededor de las áreas de explotación de recursos naturales, la transferencia de los recursos a los gobiernos locales y la participación activa de ONG ambientalistas, lo que trajo consigo la presencia de una sociedad vigilante ante la gestión del Estado. ; The Peruvian government's lack of commitment in promoting the development of energy projects between 1935 and 1990 resulted in budget deficits and a scarcity of priva te investment in that sector. In the 1990s, this situation started to change. The threshold level was based on new legal agreements. This paper studies the interactions between the Peruvian government, firms and the international institutions in developing the energy market by means of oil and gas exploitation of oil and gas and improved quality services in the electricity sector. The paper also focuses on the quality of management capacities at different levels of government (central and local). lt illustrates the steps taken by the Fujimori government to strike a balance between energy sector management and privatization. To this end, regulatory policies were introduced to establish a climate of confidence between firms and consumers. Furthermore, policies were introduced to protect indigenous communities to forestal! actions that might be harmful to these people when prívate firms began to exploit natural resources in these areas.
