Economics lessons for Eastern Europe from Latin America

Abstract

Approximately ten years later most countries of Eastern Europe are currently going through the same process of economic and social transformation which many Latin American countries began in the early 1980s. Given the large variety of Latin American experiences, it would seem, therefore, that Eastern Europe has a great deal to learn by studying Latin America. However, few eastern eyes seem to have turned to the southwest. While one can only conjecture why this has occurred, it is likely that most of the attention has fallen on Western Europe -due to its proximity and for historical reasons- and on Southeast Asia -because of the recent spectacular success stories. It may also be due to a general ignorance of Latin America, a region about which few economists in Eastern Europe have much knowledge, and the tendency to think of it as a somewhat wealthier Africa.