Héctor Pérez Brignoli

Growth and Crisis in the Central American Economies, 1950—1980

Prosperity and increasing inequality may well be the most suitable terms to describe at first glance the evolution of the Central American economies from the post-war period until the beginning of the eighties. Prosperity based on a very favourable external economic situation was characteristic of the fifties, with promotion of technological modernization and some diversification in the export sector. Sustained economic growth continued during the following decade, thanks to structural change brought about by industrialization and by the process of Central American integration. This upward trend began to break up in the seventies, and the whole region was plunged into crisis and instability. Although the gloomy side of the new international situation cannot be denied, twenty or thirty years of prosperity seem to have created internal conditions sufficient to nurture a social conflict of vast proportions, which embraces since at least 1978 not only the economic sector but all aspects of Central American life. Our objective here is to study economic growth in the Central American countries between I950 and 1980, examining the behaviour of some aggregate indices to try to establish the nature of the structural change brought about by industrialization and the integration process. Particular emphasis is given to the repercussions of growth on employment and the quality of life, taking careful account of regional nuances and differences. Finally, the nature and scope of the present crisis will be discussed.

The Economies of Central America, 1860–1940

The size and basic characteristics of the countries of Central America make them an ideal case study of the development of export economies. They have relatively simple economic structures, which, in the majority of cases, have been dominated for a considerable time by one or two export products. In other words, the effects of internal diversification that were quick to appear in larger economies have taken several decades to appear here. In particular let us note that not so long ago, from 1960–75, the Central American food, drinks and tobacco industries underwent a rate of growth — measured in respect of the added value of the whole industrial sector — similar to that experienced by the same industries in the Argentine economy from 1900–29 (Perez Brignoli and Baires Martinez, 1983, p. 380).

Reseña de libro de Tadashi Obara-Saeki y Juan Pedro Viqueira Albán, El arte de contar tributarios. Provincia de Chiapas (1560-1821)

Estamos ante una obra monumental de compilacion y critica de fuentes relativa a los tributarios de la Provincia de Chiapas a lo largo de todo el periodo colonial. La publicacion comprende un tomo impreso muy voluminoso y una extensa base de datos disponible en la red. Sigue un resumen de los principales contenidos del tomo impreso.