Latin American Debt and the Politics of International Finance by Ernest Oliveri

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The dynamics of the International Monetary Fund are examined here in terms of how the system coped in the 1980s with the crises resulting from events in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, the three most heavily indebted developing countries in the world.

FORMATHardcover LANGUAGEEnglish CONDITIONBrand New Publisher Description

The dynamics of the International Monetary Fund are examined here in terms of how the system coped in the 1980s with the crises resulting from events in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, the three most heavily indebted developing countries in the world. Ernest J. Oliveri offers three case studies that demonstrate levels of cooperation and defection in the world of international finance. The Mexican case offers the richest example of cooperation by a Latin American borrower. At the other extreme is Brazil, which adamantly refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IMF as a participant in its economy. In between is Argentina, which took a hard line until 1985 but recently softened its resistance to international pressure. These three countries provide the reader with the widest possible scope of behavior within the confines of an interdependent world economy in crisis. In each of the studies under consideration, the primary independent variable is the system of inter-American finance itself. While Oliveri focuses on separate actors and their roles at different points during the crisis, the final considerations are how they relate to systemic maintenance, the threats they may pose to it, and their efforts to preserve it.Oliveri observes that international finance in the 1970s was anarchic. By 1982, the system was ill-equipped to accommodate the serious stress caused by de facto defaults. What happens when a severe financial crisis threatens this precarious stability? Can the system's behavioral boundaries constrain short-term self-interested actions? The Latin American debt crisis provides such a challenge to the system. Oliveri finds that accommodation by players involves skillful, though capricious and arbitrary, coordination by creditors and borrowers; the IMF is not a manager of an international debt regime, but only one of its players. He concludes that adjustments have indeed been short-term and that at present no mechanism exists to coordinate this volatile system with stable long-term objectives. Latin American specialists, business managers, and political scientists will find this book provocative and informative reading.

Author Biography

ERNEST J. OLIVERI is currently teaching as an adjunct assistant professor at New York University. He has taught at Connecticut College, St. Lawrence University, Fordham University, and with the Graduate Faculty of the New School for Social Research.

Table of Contents

The Debt Crisis: Origins and CharacteristicsCommercial Banks: Political Actors in Inter-American FinanceSuccesses and Failures of Regime Building in International FinanceMexico: Challenge to an Untested SystemBrazil: Challenging the IMF's LegitimacyArgentina: The Politics of ResistanceConclusionSelected BibliographyIndex

Review

?Oliveri cogently and elegantly weaves a complex tapestry of the intricate relations among the three central actors of the 1980s debt crisis in Latin America: official institutions, debtors, and commerical banks. He challenges interpretations of the system of international finance as a regime with shared principles and rules and institutionalized decision making. This balanced and well-crafted explanation of the debt crisis and the lessons learned is strongly recommended. All levels.?-Choice"Oliveri cogently and elegantly weaves a complex tapestry of the intricate relations among the three central actors of the 1980s debt crisis in Latin America: official institutions, debtors, and commerical banks. He challenges interpretations of the system of international finance as a regime with shared principles and rules and institutionalized decision making. This balanced and well-crafted explanation of the debt crisis and the lessons learned is strongly recommended. All levels."-Choice

Promotional

[The author] cogently and elegantly weaves a complex tapestry of the intricate relations among three central actors of the 1980s debt crisis in Latin America: official institutions, debtors, and commercial banks...This balanced and well-crafted explanation of the debt crisis and the lessons learned is strongly recommended. Choice

Long Description

The dynamics of the International Monetary Fund are examined here in terms of how the system coped in the 1980s with the crises resulting from events in Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, the three most heavily indebted developing countries in the world. Ernest J. Oliveri offers three case studies that demonstrate levels of cooperation and defection in the world of international finance. The Mexican case offers the richest example of cooperation by a Latin American borrower. At the other extreme is Brazil, which adamantly refused to recognize the legitimacy of the IMF as a participant in its economy. In between is Argentina, which took a hard line until 1985 but recently softened its resistance to international pressure. These three countries provide the reader with the widest possible scope of behavior within the confines of an interdependent world economy in crisis. In each of the studies under consideration, the primary independent variable is the system of inter-American finance itself. While Oliveri focuses on separate actors and their roles at different points during the crisis, the final considerations are how they relate to systemic maintenance, the threats they may pose to it, and their efforts to preserve it. Oliveri observes that international finance in the 1970s was anarchic. By 1982, the system was ill-equipped to accommodate the serious stress caused by de facto defaults. What happens when a severe financial crisis threatens this precarious stability? Can the system's behavioral boundaries constrain short-term self-interested actions? The Latin American debt crisis provides such a challenge to the system. Oliveri finds that accommodation by players involves skillful, though capricious and arbitrary, coordination by creditors and borrowers; the IMF is not a manager of an international debt regime, but only one of its players. He concludes that adjustments have indeed been short-term and that at present no mechanism exists to coordinate this volatile system with stable long-term objectives. Latin American specialists, business managers, and political scientists will find this book provocative and informative reading.

Review Quote

"Oliveri cogently and elegantly weaves a complex tapestry of the intricate relations among the three central actors of the 1980s debt crisis in Latin America: official institutions, debtors, and commerical banks. He challenges interpretations of the system of international finance as a regime with shared principles and rules and institutionalized decision making. This balanced and well-crafted explanation of the debt crisis and the lessons learned is strongly recommended. All levels." Choice

Promotional "Headline"

[The author] cogently and elegantly weaves a complex tapestry of the intricate relations among three central actors of the 1980s debt crisis in Latin America: official institutions, debtors, and commercial banks….This balanced and well-crafted explanation of the debt crisis and the lessons learned is strongly recommended. Choice

Details ISBN027594123X Year 1992 ISBN-10 027594123X ISBN-13 9780275941239 Format Hardcover Country of Publication United States Place of Publication Westport Short Title LATIN AMER DEBT & THE POLITICS Language English Media Book Publication Date 1992-12-10 Illustrations black & white illustrations Pages 256 Imprint Praeger Publishers Inc DEWEY 332.098 DOI 10.1604/9780275941239 UK Release Date 1992-12-10 AU Release Date 1992-12-10 NZ Release Date 1992-12-10 US Release Date 1992-12-10 Author Ernest Oliveri Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Audience Undergraduate Audience Age 7-17 We've got this

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