The renewed currency of Raúl Prebisch

This article begins with a brief evocation of the main features of the legacy left to us by Raúl Prebisch, not only from the strictly intellectual point of view, but also as a model of humanism. It then goes on to deal with the present situation of the world, with special emphasis on trade, and highlights the return of a war economy mentality and the instability reigning in the oil market, both of which militate against the greater investment needed in order for the world economy to grow at a satisfactory rate. It notes that in spite of all this, in the present circumstances there has neverthe…

Productive development in open economies

Presentation The countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region have shown a keen and lasting interest in mechanisms of economic development and public policies for its promotion. This is a process in which ECLAC has been involved ever since it was founded over half a century ago. Today, the debate on these issues continues against the backdrop of a globalization process in which the remarkable dynamism of some dimensions -especially its economic, financial and cultural aspects- contrasts with the slow formation of an institutional network capable of coping with the increased interdepend…

Regional integration and macroeconomic coordination in Latin America

The contagion aspects of the financial and exchange-rate crises in recent years demonstrate the need to extend the domain of macroeconomic policy from the national dimension to the regional one. This paper presents the main concepts and challenges behind macroeconomic policy cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean and evaluates them from a game-theory perspective. Under certain conditions related to the debate on optimal currency areas, entering into a cooperative dynamic will be beneficial for all participants. Moreover, it is shown that because the welfare gains from regional cooperat…

International trade and global poverty

In the light of the extent of global poverty and the challenge presented by the Millennium Development Goals for its reduction, this article analyzes one of the clearest and most effective ways of reducing poverty: trade liberalization -especially agricultural trade- by the industrialized countries. 75 percent of all the poor worldwide are in the rural sector of the developing countries, and the agricultural products that these countries could sell face protectionist barriers -tariffs, nontariff measures, subsidies- imposed by the industrialized countries. This article examines the topic in de…

Desafíos y propuestas para la implementación más efectiva de instrumentos económicos en la gestión ambiental de América Latina y el Caribe: el caso de Argentina

Si bien en la Argentina no se dispone de muchos casos concretos de utilización explícita de instrumentos económicos para mejorar la gestión ambiental que se hayan aplicado sistemáticamente en el pasado reciente, existen algunos programas de promoción de actividades económicas que presentan directa o indirectamente aspectos de mejoramiento ambiental,1 como así también diferentes iniciativas específicas —con distintos grados de avance— planificadas para su aplicación futura. Al respecto, se realizó un relevamiento de esos instrumentos, consultando a las instituciones responsables del diseño, for…

Free trade and the development of sustainable agriculture in the Caribbean

This study examines the options for Caribbean countries in pursuing development of their agricultural sectors given the changes taking place in the international economy. The most significant of these changes is the liberalization of the trading regimes for primary agricultural products, in particular banana, by the European Union. This has serious implications for small Caribbean countries that rely on exports of one or a few commodities and are unable to compete in free markets. However, countries could reposition their agricultural sectors to take advantage of export niche markets and/or g…

The United States-Central American Free Trade Agreement: fiscal implications for the Central American countries

In this paper we estimate the fiscal implications of the free trade agreement signed between the United States of America and the five Central American countries of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. Of the five possible effects on fiscal revenue (direct, indirect, elasticity, substitution and induced), in this paper we estimate the first three. The fourth effect is most likely negligible, whereas the estimation of the fifth one would be plagued by uncertainty, so we do not attempt it here. We use comparative statics to estimate the impact. We find the adverse …

Issues, effects and implications of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Agreement for CARICOM economies

The objective of this document is to analyse some of the main issues, effects and implications of the FTAA for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) economies. It also considers when relevant and for comparison purposes the cases of non-independent States. The document is divided into seven sections. Following the introduction, the second section describes, albeit briefly, the main issues that are found in the Free Trade Areas literature. The third section introduces the FTAA participants highlighting their economic and social disparities. The fourth section centers on the FTAA underlying principles …

Report to the CDCC: Review of ECLAC/CDCC Programme of Activities for the 2002-2003 Biennium