From bonanza to constrictions: Between pragmatism and ideology in Latin American economies.

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SUMMARY

Twenty years after the stabilization of the economic paradigm that Latin America adopted at the end of the last century, this paper examines whether in its economic management the region has applied pragmatism or has been driven by ideology. It reviews the economic policies of five countries -Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Venezuela- both in the years of economic bonanza that took place in Latin America in the first decade and average, and in the years of budgetary constrictions that followed, partly aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. It can be seen that in times of high government revenues, governments are more ideologically driven, while in times of crisis, moderation prevails; that economic and political cycles tend to go hand in hand, and that right-wing governments are more pragmatic than left-wing ones, although there is a tendency to govern without extreme radicalism.