Economists in the Americas

Probably no region's economists have had greater public visibility or greater impact on regional and national public policy than Latin America's and no region has been more directly affected by the spread of US economics. Economists in the Americas joins a small but important comparative literature on economics as a profession and is the first comparative treatment of professional economists in the United States and Latin America. A multidisciplinary group of scholars discusses the last sixty years of shifting trends in economics in seven countries in the Western Hemisphere - Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay and the United States. The chapters address the history of economics in the Americas, the role of economists in politics and policy-making, economics education and competing paradigms in the field. This collection points to the interconnections among the national cases, the forging and breakdown of consensus around state and market dominance, the transnational diffusion of economic ideas and professional norms, as well as the embrace and rejection of an increasingly Americanized professional identity among Latin American economists. The book will be of interest to policymakers and scholars interested in the comparative history and sociology of economics, development, public policy, international affairs, political science and Latin American studies.