SANTIAGO, May 7, 2008 (IPS) – Among the tasks facing the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, is to contribute to the design of a development strategy to make the best use of the region’s current bonanza.ECLAC, established on
Later on this theory became known as structuralism, or developmentalism.
Prebisch advocated industrialisation aimed at import substitution, in which the state played an active role — a reform he said was a practical reality before the concept arose, as it was the only way to move forward in the context of the ravages of two world wars, with the Great Depression in between.
French sociologist Alain Touraine, the keynote speaker at a seminar commemorating the anniversary, held on Apr.
According to the agency’s own account of its history, after the industrialisation that occurred in the 1950s, ECLAC proposed “reforms to facilitate industrialisation” in the 1960s, and the “reorientation of development ‘styles’ towards social homogeneity and towards diversification to promote exports” in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, ECLAC proposed “overcoming the external debt crisis through ‘adjustment with growth,’” and in the 1990s its watchword was “equitable productive transformation.”
This decade, ECLAC, which is based in the Chilean capital, has concentrated its attention on unequal wealth distribution.
Some outstanding documents produced by ECLAC include “Shaping the Future of Social Protection: Access, Financing and Solidarity” (2006) and “Social Cohesion: Inclusion and a Sense of Belonging in
The latter proposes the elimination of inequalities in access to education, health, housing and information technology, as well as the strengthening of public institutions.
ECLAC’s first major contribution to the region was “questioning the premise, commonly believed in its early days, that economic development would follow fairly automatically if the markets were left to themselves,” former dean of the University of Chile’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Joseph Ramos, told IPS.
“ECLAC emphasises structural factors that can prevent growth, such as concentration of land ownership, lack of entrepreneurial spirit, lack of human capital and exporting mainly commodities and not knowledge,” the expert said.
“The agency also contributes to empirical knowledge about
However, ECLAC has not been exempt from criticism. In the 1960s, the radical left viewed the structuralist theory as a “lifebelt” for capitalism, while rightwing sectors considered that it leaned too far towards overweening intervention by the state.
Fazio praised the contributions of Colombian economist José Antonio Ocampo, ECLAC’s executive secretary from 1999 to 2003, to the debate about the impact of globalisation on the region’s capital markets.
“In recent years, the role of ECLAC has been cut back, as have those of international financial institutions,” he said.
The present challenges are not negligible. The huge Chinese demand for basic products has benefited many Latin American countries, especially exporters of minerals, because of the improvements in the terms of exchange.
This year will be the sixth consecutive year of strong economic growth for the economies of
The present executive secretary of ECLAC, José Luis Machinea of
But if mistakes are made — if the attempt to appropriate that income creates uncertainty for private investors — economic growth will be a problem. The income must be obtained, but incentives must remain in place for private investment, Machinea said, adding that the task was not easy, politically or economically.
Ocampo, who was also a speaker at the April seminar, said that ECLAC has been historically frustrated in its calls for “Latin American integration.”
For his part, Ramos said with regret that “ECLAC is no longer ‘the’ think tank of the region.”
“Unlike 60 years ago, when it was ‘the’ centre of excellence for economic analysis, there are now many high quality universities in the region, with more and better researchers,” he said.
“Because of this, ECLAC should concentrate on two functions, where I think it has competitive advantages: carrying out comparative analyses of what is happening, what works and what doesn’t work in the region, because the universities tend to focus on national issues; and acting as the nerve centre, the focal point, for different issues that are central to development, coordinating the best research centres,” said Ramos.