Paul W. Drake

The money doctor in the Andes : the Kemmerer missions, 1923-1933

The Money Doctor in the Andes is an account of the technical assistance missions to five Andean republics-Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Peru-undertaken by Princeton University economist Edwin Walter Kemmerer during the 1920s. Drake demonstrates that in each case the Kemmerer mission recommended an identical series of monetary, fiscal, and banking reforms, adding occasional recommendations on everything from administrative reorganization to penal code reform as local circumstances seemed to warrant. In each case, too, local legislatures adopted all the main Kemmerer proposals virtually without debate or modifications. Drake links the Kemmerer missions to vital developments in the political economic history of the Andean republics in the interwar period. He analyzes the domestic interest groups and political forces whose convergent strategies gave the Kemmerer missions their remarkable record in achieving local success for the reforms proposed. Second, Drake situates the Kemmerer missions at the center of a process of political modernization that created new institutions and policy agencies in each of the five countries; the missions thereby contributed to the expansion of the central government as an agent of development in ways that later differed sharply from Kemmerers orthodox policies. Finally, The Money Doctor in the Andes regards developments in the Andean countries in the context of the regions developing economic ties to the United States. Expectations that Kemmerers plans would simultaneously attract foreign capital and control inflation drew support from sectors as diverse as trade unions and landowners. When the Depression deepened, Kemmerers policies proved counterproductive and the fragile consensus that had installed them fell apart, but the political and administrative reforms endured-with far-reaching consequences.

Corporatism and Functionalism in Modern Chilean Politics

After the Chilean junta abolished party democracy in September 1973, it announced plans for a new constitution modeled on corporatist lines. Although, to date, few concrete expressions of these proposals have emerged, there is enough evidence since 1973 to suggest the lines along which the junta is thinking, and this indicates that not only international factors but also two sources of native historical inspiration are at work. First, and most important, Chiles military dictators were considering elevating an existing infrastructure of government-certified functional interest groups to replace the outlawed parties as intermediaries between the State and the individual. These gremios (private economic sctoral organizations, such as the National Society of Agriculture) had traditionally shaped public decisions both as representatives of their occupational fields and as permanent, often official, participants in state agencies concerned with their production sectors.

Citizenship, Labour Markets, and Democratization: Chile and the Modern Sequence (review)

pean), but lingering racial stereotypes and derogatory terms (chilote) hindered full assimilation. Argentina’s neglect of the border area allowed the development of a “borderland” identity. Diego Escolar makes a compelling case for the shift of identities from Chilean to Argentinean in the town of Calingasta (San Juan). Before the 1940s, the town had an unmistakably Chilean flavor: its population, trade, festivities, memories, and even indigenous past harkened back to Chile. By the 1940s, however, rising nationalism in both countries rendered this state of affairs no longer admissible. The town was Argentinized by means of “seduction” (the extension of social welfare) and institutional coercion (the school system, the army, and customs) in the context of expanding domestic labor and commodity markets. A shift of identities (or allegiances, one might say)—from Chilean inhabitants in Argentine soil to Argentine citizens—strongly reflected these changes. In the wake of this process of Argentinization, all traces of an Indian past were erased. Susana Bandieri has done an excellent job at putting together this collection of fine scholarship, which contradicts the view of a mighty nation-state sucking up all regions in its unstoppable expansion. What is missing is a study of the impact of frequent border disputes between Chile and Argentina on borderland populations. So far, these disputes have been the terrain of military and diplomatic history, but they are a topic worth pursuing by social and cultural historians. Also, a substantial conclusion tying up the various themes that support the general thesis would help the reader cross the cordillera safely.

Chile 1970-73 : economic development and its international setting : self-criticism of the Unidad Popular government's policies

1. The Reasons for Self-Criticism of the Unidad Popular Government.- 2. General Considerations on the Chilean Economic Structure.- 1. Antecedents in the Structure of Chiles Economy.- 2. The Economic and Political Antecedents of the Economic Situation.- 3. Some General Considerations.- Notes.- Tables.- Statistical Appendix.- 3. Structural Transformations in Chiles Economy and in its System of External Economic Relations.- 1. From the Structural Crisis to the Transformation Crisis.- 2. The Legacy of the Capitalist Economic Structure.- 3. The Nature and Extent of the Structural Changes.- 4. The Internal Economic Effects of the Changes.- 5. The Reaction of Other Countries to the Chilean Structural Changes.- 6. The External Stranglehold.- 7. The External Financing Policy and the Deficit.- 8. Conclusions.- Notes.- Tables.- 4. The Foreign Policy of the Unidad Popular Government.- 1.-12..- Notes.- 6. The External Sector and the Policies of the Unidad Popular Government.- 1. The Chilean Economy during the 1960s.- 2. Foreign Trade Policy.- 3. Some Considerations on the Economic Blockade during the 1970-73 Period.- Notes.- Tables.- 6. Nationalization of Copper in Chile and its International Repercussions.- 1. Chile and the U.S. Copper Companies, 1920-70.- 2. Nationalization of Copper in 1971.- 3. The Development of the International Conflict on Chilean Copper: the Causes and Consequences.- 4. Conclusions.- Notes.- Tables.- 7. The Industrial Sector: Areas of Social and Mixed Property in Chile.- 1. National and Foreign-Owned Monopolies in the Urban-Industrial System.- 2. The APSM in Industry.- 3. The Formation of the APSM in Industry.- 4. The APSM and Domestic Financial Problems.- 5. The Internal Organization of the APSM in Industry.- 6. Industrial Production in the APSM and External Difficulties.- Notes.- Tables.- 8. Nationalization of the Banking System in Chile.- 1. Characteristics of the Banking and Financial System in 1970.- 2. The UP Governments Policy of Nationalizing Banks.- 3. How the Nationalized System Worked.- 4. The Features of Nationalized Banking in Chile.- 5. Conclusions.- Notes.- 9. Inflation in Chile and the Political Economy of the Unidad Popular Government.- 1. Inflation and Economic Disequilibria.- 2. Determinants of the Economic Evolution during 1971-73.- 3. A Description of the Inflationary Process during 1971-73.- 4. The Dynamics of Economic Disequilibria.- 5. Conclusions.- Notes.- Tables.- 10. The Process of Transformation and the Role of International Cooperation: an Observer#x2019 s View.- 1. The UPs Economic Programme.- 2. The Transformation Process and the Role of Foreign Assistance.- 3. Chiles Development and Foreign Assistance.- 4. International Cooperation for Development.- Notes.- Table.