Crisis and Dollarization in Ecuador. Stability, Growth, and Social Equity, edited by Paul Beckerman and Andrés Solimano, Directions in Development Series, The World Bank, 2002.

Early in 2000, Ecuador, confronted with a serious economic crisis, adopted the US dollar as its national currency. This book examines the conditions that led to this action, describing the repeated cycles of crisis and failed stabilization that fatally undermined confidence in the Ecuadorian sucre during the 1990s. The book then analyzes dollarization’s initial results and its effects on inflation, growth, poverty, inequality, marginalization, gender, and the Ecuadoran family. It also puts the Ecuadoran experience with dollarization in an international perspective.

Colombia. Essays on Conflict, Peace, and Development, edited by Andrés Solimano, Conflict Prevention and Post-Conflict Reconstruction Series, The World Bank SIDA, 2000.

A purpose of this book is to present recent World Bank analytical and empirical work on the causes of violence and conflict in Colombia, highlighting also pilot lending programs oriented to promote peace and development. The Bank’s international experiences in post-conflict situations in different countries and their relevance for Colombia are also examined in this volume. The identification of socio-economic determinants of conflict, violence, and reforms for peace came about as a key element of the Bank’s assistance strategy for Colombia, defined in conjunction with government authorities and representatives of civil society.

19 chilenos ocupan altos puestos en organismos económicos

Quienes han vivido esta experiencia, sienten que los compatriotas son valorados por su formación académica, tanto en universidades chilenas como extranjeras.
Alejandro Sáez Rojas Recientemente, Germán Quintana, ex intendente de Santiago, fue nombrado en uno de los cargos más importantes del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID). Con su designación, pasó a integrar la lista de 19 chilenos que ocupan puestos de relevancia en organismos económicos multilaterales. Leer mas … »

Distributive Justice and Economic Development. The Case of Chile and Developing Countries, edited by Andrés Solimano, Eduardo Aninat, and Nancy Birdsall, Development and Inequality in the Market Economy Series, The University Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2000.

The relationship between the proccess of creating wealth and distributing it has been a subject of great analytical and policy interest to development economists for many years. Is there an inevitable conflict, or tradeoff, between wealth creation and wealth distribution? Can both growth and social equity increase simultaneously? What role can public policy play to affect growth-equity outcomes?
These questions are particularly salient both for Latin America, where inequality levels are among the highest in the world, and for developing countries in general. A key question is to what extent market-oriented reform, followed with great impetus in the 1990s in the developing and postsocialist world, is compatible with socially accepted patterns of distibution of income, wealth, and opportunities.

Desigualdad Social. Valores, Crecimiento y el Estado, Andrés Solimano (compilador), El Trimestre Económico. Lecturas No. 90, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 2000.

Este volumen adopta un enfoque comprensivo de la desigualdad social centrándose en tres dimensiones: i) la desigualdad como un problema filosófico y económico que plantea cuestiones fundamentales respecto de la naturaleza humana, los sistemas económicos y la organización social; ii) la interdependencia entre metas de la estrategia del desarrollo, como el crecimiento económico, la estabilidad macroeconómica, el mejoramiento de la calidad de vida y la desigualdad social, y iii) el efecto de las políticas que intentan reducir la desigualdad y mejorar las condiciones sociales en el tamaño y la eficacia del Estado.

Social Inequality. Values, Growth and the State, edited by Andrés Solimano, The University Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1998.

This volume takes a comprehensive view of social inequality by focusing on three dimensions: (1) inequality as a philosophical and economic issue that raises fundamental questions about human nature, economic systems, and social organization; (2) the interdependence of basic goals in the development strategy, such as economic growth, macroeconomic stability, improvement in living standards, and social inequality; and (3) the impact of policies aimed at reducing inequality and improving social conditions on the size and effectiveness of the state.

Los Caminos de la Prosperidad. Ensayos del Crecimiento y Desarrollo, Andrés Solimano (compilador), El Trimestre Económico. Lecturas No. 87, Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico, 1998.

La creación de riqueza material es fundamental para mejorar la calidad de vida y promover la prosperidad y el progreso social. Pero, cómo se inicia un período de rápido crecimiento económico? Cómo pueden sostenerse el crecimiento y la prosperidad a lo largo del tiempo? Cómo pueden los países evitar las crisis del crecimiento y el estancamiento? Cuál sería, a inicios del siglo XXI, un enfoque para el desarrollo económico que sea analíticamente sensato y pertinente para la política económica? Qué podríamos aprender de las experiencias de crecimiento y desarrollo de los países de la América Latina, el Asia Oriental y la OCDE? Estos son los interrogantes que intenta abordar este libro escrito por destacados investigadores en estos temas.

Road Maps to Prosperity. Essays on Growth and Development, edited by Andrés Solimano, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1996.

The 1990s witnessed a revitalization of analytical work and policy interest on themes of economic growth, savings generation, capital formation, and long-run development. The contributions to this volume, from leading scholars in the field, set out to examine critical issues in late-twentieth-century development.
The essays in the first part of the book critically review and expand recent contributions on growth and development issues. The new growth economics is analyzed in proper analytical and historical perspective by looking at the main contributions developed during the last two centuries. The complex links between savings, investment, and growth are examined through a careful review of the existing analytical and empirical literature in the field. Open questions and puzzles are considered. Development theory is subjected to closer scrutiny by highlighting new directions for research and policy analysis using recent contributions in growth and trade theory, institutional economics, and social processes. The elements of a “strategic growth approach” building upon the successes and failures of both state-led and market-driven growth experiences are discussed.
The second part of the volume is dovoted to the analysis of the varied experience with economic growth and development in Latin America, East Asia, and the OECD in the last three decades. Themes studied include the causes of golden ages versus growth crisis in different periods and regions, the growth response to policy reform in Latin America and East Asia, growth convergence in the OECD, and the role of finance in development.

Rebuilding Capitalism: Alternative Roads After Socialism and Dirigisme, edited by Andrés Solimano, Osvaldo Sunkel and Mario I. Blejer, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 1993.

The post-socialist transitions in the East and the abandonment of state-led development (dirigisme) in the South comprise one of the most important global phenomena of the late 20th century. Rebuilding Capitalism contains innovative work by well-known specialist in the fields of economic reform, macroeconomics, and development. It offers a global and integrative perspective on the theory and practice of economic reform after socialism and dirigisme.
The book considers the historical origins of the current wave of market-oriented reform, reviews existing controversies on the design of economic reforms, and offers alternative criteria to evaluate policy performance. In particular it focuses on issues of macroeconomic adjustment and stabilization, liberalization policies, reform of the state, and interactions between economic and political transformation during the course of systemic transformation. A distinctive feature of this volume is that it covers a wide range of reform experiences from various countries. The analysis of post-socialist reform includes Eastern Europe, Russia, China, and cases of reforming socialism in Africa and Latin America (including a special chapter on Cuba). Post-dirigisme transitions are examined for Latin America and East Asia.