Download file 252 KB Texto completo en español More of: Daniel Wisecarver

The model – in terms of privatization, foreign trade, monetary policy, liberalization of prices, labor policy and other things – was much less pure and orthodox than generally supposed. The results of the economic policy applied need to be measured against the world economy. A comparison with six other Latin American countries shows that, relatively speaking, growth in Chile was greater under the present government than during any of the three previous administrations. The article refers to the world recession, the level of external debt, and automatic adjustment theory; and it criticizes the decision to devalue, and its consequences. The current crisis is not the result of choosing the wrong path. One of the factors that best explains the depth of the crisis is the fact that the government, in a few key moments of decision, has been unable or unwilling to pursue the path leading to the achievement of the targets it had set out.