|
|
|
Detail Center Header Text Above Items |
|
The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development
by Patrice M. Franko
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Inc (1999-11)
ISBN: 0847695255
EAN: 9780847695256
Dewy Decimal #: 338.98
Paperback: 552 pages
SKU: S070522-3294
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Very good overall condition. No writing, very tight binding. Ships same day or next in a bubble mailer. Enjoy.
|
Editorial Reviews
|
Product Description
This clear and engaging textbook provides the basic economic tools for students to understand the problems facing the countries of Latin America. After a brief historical overview, Patrice Franko builds a contemporary model of regional development. She explores the contradictions of growth, especially in the context of overcoming intractable problems of poverty, education, health, and discrimination. Inviting students to view challenges through the eyes of policymakers, the text encourages a critical assessment of past and present policy choices. Data exercises promote research skills and highlight the diversity of development experiences in the region. Liberally interspersed with examples and case studies, the author successfully combines theory and its application in the real world. Innovative yet user-friendly, this text simultaneously challenges strong students while clarifying the fundamentals for novices. By exploring the difficult choices facing Latin American policymakers, the author gives readers interested in economics or in Latin American studies the conceptual means to understand the puzzle of strong, sustainable, and equitable growth in the region.
|
Customer Reviews
|
A useful textbook.
Rating  (4)
Date: 2007-01-12
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
This is probably the most useful all-round textbook on Latin American economic challenges currently on the market. An important strength is its comprehensiveness: unlike some alternatives, Franko does not dwell on issues of macroeconomic management to the exclusion of important socioeconomic issues such as education, health, rural development, and inequality. The book is evidently designed to support a one semester course, and could be used for either advanced undergraduates or graduate students.
Franko's text is not without its weaknesses. The updating of macro developments from the first edition was undertaken somewhat randomly. Discussions of different viewpoints on Latin American development issues sometimes make overly schematic use of stock figures ("the structuralist", "the neoliberal") that risk becoming caricatures. There is no discussion of the so-called "Washington Consensus" as a whole (indeed the term does not appear in the index). And Franko discusses the thesis of secular decline in commodity prices in an uncritical manner that suggests she may be unaware of recent more skeptical analyses. This said, the book does not suffer from obvious systematic biases, and makes a good-faith effort to present different viewpoints without forcing them down the reader's throat.
|
|
A Completely Finished Puzzle
Rating (4)
Date: 2001-02-10
7 out of 7 customers found this reveiw helpful
"The Puzzle of Latin American Economic Development" is, most of all, an incredible clear book. By beggining with a review of the differences between the concepts of economic development and economic growth, Patrice Franko places the study of the Latin American economy in its appropiate framework. The analysis of the historical evolution, while simple, gives a solid overview of many of the roots of the current economic and social problems of the area. Finally, her wide analysis of typical areas of economic development such as agriculture, health and education highlights problems that are sometimes forgotten by the political actors. It is an indispensable book for those who want to get initiated in the fascinating subject of Latin American Economic Development.
|
|
|
|
Detail Center Footer Text Below Items |
|
|