Left Behind: Latin America and the False Promise of Populism

by Sebastian Edwards

The political and economic history of Latin America has been marked by great hopes and even greater disappointments. Despite abundant resources—and a history of productivity and wealth—in recent decades the region has fallen further and further behind developed nations, surpassed even by other developing economies in Southeast Asia and elsewhere.

In Left Behind, Sebastian Edwards explains why the nations of Latin America have failed to share in the fruits of globalization and forcefully highlights the dangers of the recent turn to economic populism in the region. He begins by detailing the many ways Latin American governments have stifled economic development over the years through excessive regulation, currency manipulation, and thoroughgoing corruption. He then turns to the neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s, which called for the elimination of deficits, lowering of trade barriers, and privatization of inefficient public enterprises—and which, Edwards argues, held the promise of freeing Latin America from the burdens of the past. Flawed implementation, however, meant the promised gains of globalization were never felt by the mass of citizens, and growing frustration with stalled progress has led to a resurgence of populism throughout the region, exemplified by the economic policies of Venezuela’s Hugo Chávez. But such measures, Edwards warns, are a recipe for disaster; instead, he argues, the way forward for Latin America lies in further market reforms, more honestly pursued and fairly implemented. As an example of the promise of that approach, Edwards points to Latin America's giant, Brazil, which under the successful administration of President Luis Inácio da Silva (Lula) has finally begun to show signs of reaching its true economic potential.

As the global financial crisis has reminded us, the risks posed by failing economies extend far beyond their national borders. Putting Latin America back on a path toward sustained growth is crucial not just for the region but for the world, and Left Behind offers a clear, concise blueprint for the way forward.

Genres: Economics, Politics, History, Nonfiction, The Americas

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Henriette · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is interesting and elucidative in some parts (for people without an economical background like me), but it's also sometimes tiring and repetitive. Mostly I didn't like the author describing Lula (Brazil's ex-president) as one who avoided the populist approach. I'm a Brazilian and, although I recognize some important measures taken by Lula, I mostly view him as EXTREMELY populist! He's been the one to claim that everyone who's against him"his" party (mostly because of the high corruption in which the party has been involved) is against Brazil, is against the poor people etc. etc. (all that typically populist blah-blah-blah). He's Brazilian great hero, without whom the people will be destroyed by the "elites"... Oh, come on! If this is not populism, what is it then??

[Gaspar Olea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Populism's a disease, just look to Latin America

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Latin America has had a wild ride, went from hopeful to be growth stars to stuck in all kinds of economic traps. The book discussed the issue with populism, corruption, too much promise on welfare, debt, currency peg to the US, poor IMF advices, and inability to manage the economy from many Latin American governments.

I think it’s easy to describe what happened, but hard to explore why. Why populism is such a big problem in Latam, not Asian tigers. How to prevent it? It’s easy to blame that these countries don’t have democracy and rule of law, but how to do it, why is it hard. Could have more analysis and insights.

[Konstantin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best book to understand economical and social history of Latin America.

Unfortunately, written in 2010, just before the decade of infame of almost all Latin American countries, Sebastián Edwards couldn't imagine that there will be no country in a third group of his predictions foe 2010s. Chile will fall into the second group and others even worse.

What brings my attention that in this books there's almost nothing written about Uruguay, especially taking in account that 2005-2009 were the best years for Uruguayan economics.

That's why 4 stars. It's from 2023. If I've read this book in 2010-2013 it would be 5 stars without any doubt.

[Adelaide · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly approachable given my lack of economics background.

[Vicky Liang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dry...did not like