latin america Flashcards
how was the indiginous population wiped out?
they were wiped out by dieseases such as smallpox, measles , influenza, typhus. by the middle of the 16th century, 70-90% of indiginous population had been wiped out. it was repopulated with europeans and slaves from africa
what is the geographical view?
that societies that were rich 500 years ago should still be rich since geographical factors persist across time
what is the institutionalalist view?
that insititutions and policies are the main determinents of economic performance
what types of insititutions did the spanish and porteguese establish in latin america?
extractive institutions
what types of insitutions did britain establish in north america, australia and new zealand?
growth enhancing insitutions
what evidence supports the institutionalist view point?
the reversal of fortune in the americas over the last 500 years is evidence of the institutionalist view. A.J.R used data on urbanisation and population density to show the relative wealth.
what are the proxy measures of early development and why are they measures?
urbanisation- can only happen if agriculture produces surplus
population density - malthusian model predicts that technological progress increases population
what is a key determinent of the form of colonisation ?
for A-J-R a key determinent is the potential settler mortality. as latin america had a greater poterntial settler mortality rate it was less attractive for mass permanent settlements so resulted in extractive insititutions
what is the path of dependency?
potential settler mortality -> settlement -> early institutions -> current institutions -> current performance
what happened to latin america after independence?
1 million people migrated to argentina and brazil from europe between 1851-80 . by 1900 argentina, chile and uruguay had near european capita income levels but much greater inequality. the other latin america countries had much lower gdp per capita however.
what are the recurrent major issues in latin america?
excessive protectionism, macroeconomic instability - stop-go growth, inflantion and exchange rate crisis, debt problems, problems of political instability and inequality (dictatorial and populist politics)
what was the development strategy between the late 19th century and the early 20th century for latin america?
there was open export driven model based on comparitive advantage (agriculture- they were land and mineral resource abundandant and relative scarcity of labour)
what was the development strategy after 1945 for latin america?
there was export pessimism - inward strategies of import subsitution and protection prevailed based on prebisch-singer thesis. key objective became rapid industrialisation
what occured during the lost decade in the 1980s?
large external debt problems arising in the 1970s, they borrowed at low interest rates. 2 oil shocks and macroeconomic mis management led to them having to refinance the debt at higher interest rate in 1980s
what was the average inflation in the 1980s ?
177%
