Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-grxwn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-11T01:57:04.944Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Hidden Logic of “Irrational” Economic Policies in Ecuador

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Francisco E. Thoumi
Francisco E. Thoumi*
Affiliation:
California State University-Chico, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in Washington, DC
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Mainstream economists blame the poor 1980s economic performance of most Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries on the poor economic policies followed by the region for the past several decades and recommend drastic policy changes including (a) elimination of many subsidies, (b) lowering tariffs and other obstacles to international trade, (c) privatization of many state enterprises, (d) liberalization of capital markets and interest rates, and so on — a policy package designed to lower greatly the government's intervention in the economy. This policy advice has been inspired, at least in part, by the generally accepted failure of the LAC governments to promote stable and fair growth through intervention.

However, in spite of pressures by multilateral and bilateral agencies, most governments find it very difficult to implement these policies, even when policymakers and their advisers fully understand the logic behind the policy recommendations and agree with them.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , Summer 1990 , pp. 43 - 68
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agosin, M. (1979) “An Analysis of Ecuador's Industrial Development Law.” Journal of Developing Areas 13 (April): 263-273.Google Scholar
Balassa, B., G. Bueno, P-P. Kuczynski, and M. Simonsen (1986) Toward Renewed Growth in Latin America. Washington, DC: Institute for International Economics (HE).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bocco, A. (1987) Auge Petrolero, Modernización y Subdesarroilo: El Ecuador de los Anos Setenta. Quito, Ecuador: Corporación Editora Nacional.Google Scholar
Centro de Estudios y Difusión Social (CEDS) (1988) Los Grupos Monopólicos en el Ecuador (2nd ed.). Quito, Ecuador: CEDS.Google Scholar
Conaghan, C. (1988) Restructuring Domination: Industrialists and the State in Ecuador. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.Google Scholar
Cueva, A. (1982) The Process of Political Domination in Ecuador. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.Google Scholar
Furtado, C. (1970) Obstacles to Development in Latin America. Garden City, NY: Anchor Books.Google Scholar
Gelb, A. and Marshall-Silva, J. (1988) “Ecuador: Windfalls of a New Exporter,” pp. 170–196 in A. Gelb et al.(eds.) Oil Windfalls: Blessing or Curse? New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hurtado, O. (1985) Political Power in Ecuador. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Kasza, G. (1981) “Regional Conflict in Ecuador: Quito and Guayaquil.” Inter-American Economic Affairs 35, 2, Autumn: 3-41.Google Scholar
Kublank, P. and D. Mora (1987) El Sistema Energético del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador: Instituto Latinoamericano de Investigaciones Sociales (ILDIS).Google Scholar
Luzuriaga, C. and C. Zuvekas Jr. (1984) Distribucion del Ingreso y Pobreza en las Areas Rurales del Ecuador 1950-1980. Quito, Ecuador: Banco Central del Ecuador.Google Scholar
Maldonado, Posso M. (1988) “An Entrepreneur Discredited the Free Enterprise System in Ecuador.” Journal of Economic Growth 3, 2, November: 19-28.Google Scholar
Marshall-Silva, J. (1984) “Ecuador Quantification, Distribution and Effects of the Oil Bonus, 1973-82” (Report for PRO 672-49). Washington, DC: The World Bank, Development Research Department.Google Scholar
Martz, J. (1986) Politics and Petroleum in Ecuador. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.Google Scholar
Martz, J. (1972) Ecuador: Conflicting Political Culture and the Quest for Progress. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Nogueira, U. (1989) “Ecuador: Energy Sector” (mimeo). Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).Google Scholar
North, L. (1985) “Implementación de la Politica Económica y la Estructura del Poder Político en Ecuador,” pp. 425-457 in L. Lefeber (ed.) Economía Politica del Ecuador: Campo, Región, Nación. Quito, Ecuador: Corpóracion Editora Nacional.Google Scholar
Olson, M. (1982) The Rise and Decline of Nations. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Rains, L. (1989) “El Sector Publico del Ecuador” (mimeo). Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank (Idb).Google Scholar
Rodriguez, L. (1985) The Search for Public Policy: Regional Politics and Government Finances in Ecuador, 1830-1940. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Salgado, H. (1987) Instituciones Politicas y Constitucion del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador: Instituto Latinoamericano de Investigaciones Sociales (ILDIS).Google Scholar
Schamis, G. (1985) “Desarrollo Industrial e Inversion Extranjera: una Interpretacion,” pp. 293-335 in L. Lefeber (ed.) Economia Politica del Ecuador: Campo, Region, Nacion. Quito, Ecuador: Corporacion Editora Nacional.Google Scholar
Schodt, D. (1987) Ecuador: An Andean Enigma. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Swett, F. (1986) “Turnaround: the Political Economy of Development and Liberalization in Ecuador, 1984-1986” (mimeo). Paper presented at Americas Society Seminar Series, Washington DC, 22 September.Google Scholar
Swett, F. (El) Universo (1981) issues 2-14 November.Google Scholar
Velez, C. (ed.) (1965) Obstacles to Change in Latin America. London, England: Royal Institute of International Affairs.Google Scholar
Vera, P. (1987) Por la Plata Baila el Perro. Quito, Ecuador: Editorial Planeta del Ecuador.Google Scholar
Vos, R. (1987) Industrializacion, Empleo y Necesidades Bsisicas. Quito, Ecuador: Corporacion Editora Nacional.Google Scholar
World Bank (1984) Ecuador: An Agenda for Recovery and Sustained Growth. Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Zuvekas, Jr. C. (1972) “Economic Planning in Ecuador: An Evaluation.” Inter-American Economic Affairs 25, 4, Spring: 39-69.Google Scholar