<< 1 >>
Rating: 
Summary: This book confronts the horrible ambivalence of his legacy.
Review: A fascinating, but ambiguous book: Its central characters are the so-called "Chicago Boys", economists who served under the Pinochet regime. The author explores the roots of their ideas and their sense of mission, following their training at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. These planners took advantage of the opportunity afforded them by the 1973 military coup to launch the first radical free market strategy implemented in a developing country. Let us be clear here: Pinochet was, undoubtedly, the worst kind of tyrant. Even U.S. officers accused of conspiring with el jefe (Henry Kissinger, for example) do not dispute that his reign was horrible by U.S. and European standards. Thousands of opponents to the regime were tortured, jailed, and "lost". The author does not deny this, nor does he make any attempt to candy-coat Pinochet or his regime. Quite the opposite. Gabriel Valdes was, after all, a liberal who escaped Chile during the regime and joined the government that replaced Pinochet's. Yet he refuses to deny (as many have) the ambivalence of the Pinochet legacy. For even as the General practiced the worst kind of political oppression of dissent, he encouraged free-market economics... and Chile prospered as a result. Other states (Nicaragua, for example) which started out as darlings of the Left fell in to the worst kinds of economic decay, as Chile moved forward. (Skeptics may credit this precipitous collapse to the Contras, if they like, but the record is otherwise.) According to this author, the ideological strength of the Chicago Boys' mission and the military authoritarianism of General Pinochet combined to transform an economy that is now seen as a model for Latin America. Gabriel Valdes makes the case that it was this economic growth itself which laid the groundwork for democracy. Ultimately, it was Pinochet's own economic platform that led to his ousting. Just as South Korea finally reached a critical mass of prosperity its government could not contain, so too did Chile's economic turn-around finally propel the collapse of the authoritarian state that had made this growth possible. Human rights advocates too frequently overlook the vital importance of property rights. In pursuit of economic "justice," they frequently redistribute the economy to death. This author makes the case, in considerable detail, that the right to trade freely and prosper lays the groundwork for other freedoms (to be free of torture, to speak freely, to associate freely, etc.) And, because it creates jobs, free trade groweth can actually eases and obscure class tensions in the long run. This book offers remarkable evidence for a model of nation building that too few Third World leaders endorse- one founded on the premise that economic growth precedes and permits political democracy. P.S. I know this review is likely to get a slew of unhelpful votes. So be it. This is a great book that people should read carefully before criticizing. Leaders who refuse to consider these arguments will wind up with a less honest appraisal of history.
Rating:
Summary: This book confronts the horrible ambivalence of his legacy.
Review: A fascinating, but ambiguous book: Its central characters are the so-called "Chicago Boys", economists who served under the Pinochet regime. The author explores the roots of their ideas and their sense of mission, following their training at the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago. These planners took advantage of the opportunity afforded them by the 1973 military coup to launch the first radical free market strategy implemented in a developing country. Let us be clear here: Pinochet was, undoubtedly, the worst kind of tyrant. Even U.S. officers accused of conspiring with el jefe (Henry Kissinger, for example) do not dispute that his reign was horrible by U.S. and European standards. Thousands of opponents to the regime were tortured, jailed, and "lost". The author does not deny this, nor does he make any attempt to candy-coat Pinochet or his regime. Quite the opposite. Gabriel Valdes was, after all, a liberal who escaped Chile during the regime and joined the government that replaced Pinochet's. Yet he refuses to deny (as many have) the ambivalence of the Pinochet legacy. For even as the General practiced the worst kind of political oppression of dissent, he encouraged free-market economics... and Chile prospered as a result. Other states (Nicaragua, for example) which started out as darlings of the Left fell in to the worst kinds of economic decay, as Chile moved forward. (Skeptics may credit this precipitous collapse to the Contras, if they like, but the record is otherwise.) According to this author, the ideological strength of the Chicago Boys' mission and the military authoritarianism of General Pinochet combined to transform an economy that is now seen as a model for Latin America. Gabriel Valdes makes the case that it was this economic growth itself which laid the groundwork for democracy. Ultimately, it was Pinochet's own economic platform that led to his ousting. Just as South Korea finally reached a critical mass of prosperity its government could not contain, so too did Chile's economic turn-around finally propel the collapse of the authoritarian state that had made this growth possible. Human rights advocates too frequently overlook the vital importance of property rights. In pursuit of economic "justice," they frequently redistribute the economy to death. This author makes the case, in considerable detail, that the right to trade freely and prosper lays the groundwork for other freedoms (to be free of torture, to speak freely, to associate freely, etc.) And, because it creates jobs, free trade groweth can actually eases and obscure class tensions in the long run. This book offers remarkable evidence for a model of nation building that too few Third World leaders endorse- one founded on the premise that economic growth precedes and permits political democracy. P.S. I know this review is likely to get a slew of unhelpful votes. So be it. This is a great book that people should read carefully before criticizing. Leaders who refuse to consider these arguments will wind up with a less honest appraisal of history.
Rating: 
Summary: the american cultural myth of Augusto Pinochet and Chile
Review: I was interested in the whole take on Chile. It seemed to be the perfect model of American foreign policy. It seemed hard to argue against Chile. It seemed that dictatorships and extreme poverty were necessary evils in building industrialized democracies. Then I read Greg Palast's The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. He brings to light something that economists cannot ignore. Even though most industries were privatized, one industry was regulated stricter than democratically elected socialist president Salvador Allende ever meant to. The copper industry, Chile's leading industry was that industry. Those other industries that were privatized that are noted even by pro-Pinochet economists for causing poverty and social decadence all round. If you care to look into the Chicago boys, just take a look at Milton Friedman's work with a critical eye. Rather than seeing to promote libertarian thought, he seemingly hurts it more. The Chicago boys built the same economy paradigm that was followed by the Russian Communist Party (yes, the Communists; 60% of the population opposed free market economics) that led to further economic chaos and social decay in post-communist Russia. I've met many libertarians that have nothing nice to say about the Chicago boys and the Friedman line of thought. Nice way of defending Pinochet's rule. Too bad it's far from the truth.
Rating: 
Summary: Upside down
Review: This book focus on a fascinating subject: the story of how a bunch of Chilean free market economists transformed a dictatorship into a model democracy and a prosperous economy. Valdes describes the team and its origin with skill and knowledge. But then his partisan socialist background betrays him and he begins to see conspiracies and imperialist designs. A wasted opportunity.
<< 1 >>
| 
