Globalization and Austerity Politics in Latin America

The book explores the effect of financial globalization on Latin American economic policy-making.

Stephen B. Kaplan (Author)

9781107670761, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 January 2013

360 pages, 63 b/w illus. 21 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm, 0.48 kg

'In this deeply insightful and original book, Stephen Kaplan not only offers a fresh interpretation of how global financial markets constrain domestic policy makers in developing countries, but he explains the conditions under which these constraints are more or less confining. This is a first-rate contribution to the study of the political economy of democracy and development, and it breaks new ground in understanding how domestic policy choices are conditioned by international financial dependence.' Kenneth M. Roberts, Cornell University

In an age of financial globalization, are markets and democracy compatible? For developing countries, the dramatic internationalization of financial markets over the last two decades deepens tensions between politics and markets. Notwithstanding the rise of left-leaning governments in regions like Latin America, macroeconomic policies often have a neoliberal appearance. When is austerity imposed externally and when is it a domestic political choice? By combining statistical tests with extensive field research across Latin America, this book examines the effect of financial globalization on economic policymaking. Kaplan argues that a country's structural composition of international borrowing and its individual technocratic understanding of past economic crises combine to produce dramatically different outcomes in national policy choices. Incorporating these factors into an electoral politics framework, the book then challenges the conventional wisdom that political business cycles are prevalent in newly democratizing regions. This book is accessible to a broad audience and scholars with an interest in the political economy of finance, development and democracy, and Latin American politics.

1. Introduction
2. Globalization and austerity politics
3. The political economy of elections
4. The electoral boom-bust cycle
5. From gunboat to trading-floor diplomacy
6. When Latin American grasshoppers become ants
7. The political austerity cycle
8. Conclusion
Appendix: field research interviews.

Subject Areas: International business [KJK], Finance [KFF], Finance & accounting [KF], Political economy [KCP], International economics [KCL], Macroeconomics [KCB], Economics [KC], Comparative politics [JPB]