Grading the Performance of the Latin American Regimes 1970-1995

Abstract

For most of Latin America the 1970s were a decade of growth, though with political upheaval in Argentina and Chile. The 1980s were a disaster. The 1990s have seen economic reform, liberalization, a return to democracy and financial turmoil. This study attempts to explain the three decades as one piece, through an analysis of the evolution of earnings inequality from year to year in eight major Latin American countries and one Caribbean nation. We find that changes in earnings inequality are a sensitive indicator of slump, repression, political turmoil, civil war, natural disaster and -- on the positive side -- occasional periods of growth and stability in Latin America. Indeed almost the whole recent history of Latin America can be summarized in the movement of industrial inequality statistics.

JEL Classification: O54