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Chile's Free Market Miracle: A Second Look, by Joseph Collins and John Lear. Oakland, California: Food First Books, 1995. Paper, $15.95. Pp. xi, 311.
This book is a fine tool for Science & Society's readers and all critics of neoliberal economics. It is must reading for anyone who still believes that neoliberalism offers either a way out of underdevelopment or a way to further development. It is a thoroughly researched and very well written analysis of the economic and human reality behind Chile's impressive recent macroeconomic statistics. This is an important and persuasive, although not a theoretical, book.
Collins, co-founder of the Institute for Food and Development Policy, and Lear, a Latin American historian, begin with a brief review of Chile's political and economic development before the tragic coup in 1973, during which governments of various political complexions used the state as an engine of economic growth. They argue that the junta was only able to impose its economic shock therapy on the Chilean economy because it had the absolute, dictatorial power necessary to overcome popular resistance. This point in itself is crucial, suggesting that at least the neoliberal variety of capitalism is incompatible with bourgeois democracy, not to mention real popular democracy. They explain the rise to prominence of the "Chicago Boys" and explore their world view. But the meat...