The Ends and the Means of Development

The past few months have witnessed violent demonstrations in several Latin American countries,  including Chile, the only country from the region (other than Mexico) to have joined the OECD,  the rich-country club. Moises Naim and Brian Winter recently published a thoughtful article in  Foreign Affairs , titled “ Why Latin America Was Primed to Explode ”   (October 29), in which they  make a strong case that following the commodity boom of the early part of the previous decade  the recent past has seen a sharp deceleration of economic growth. “Against the backdrop of  stagnating wages and rising costs of living, indignities such as inequality and corruption have  become more difficult for many people to swallow,” they persuasively argue. I put forward here  some reflections on the economic growth debate and what this means for Latin America. What about economic growth? Economists—I am one of them—have long studied and argued about the sources and  consequences o

Christine Lagarde, departing International Monetary Fund Managing Director With the forthcoming departure of Christine Lagarde to the European Central Bank, the IMF's shareholders are considering possible candidates to replace her. Given the central role the organization has played in recent decades in financial crisis management, a role that is likely to be enhanced in coming years, few of the high-level jobs at the head of international organizations are more consequential than that of IMF managing director (MD). What will be the key challenges facing the new MD? What are the specific reforms and priorities which he/she should push for? And, what are the qualities which the new MD should bring to the job? Challenges On the challenges, there are four that quickly spring to mind. The first one reflects the fairly dramatic shifts in economic and political power which have taken place over the past two decades, with China rapidly emerging as the world’s largest econ