How Latin America Weathered the Global Financial Crisis - Paperback

by José de Gregorio (Author)

Why has the economy of Latin America responded more positively than Asia, Europe, or the United States after being hit by the recent global financial crisis? Three years after the worst of the crisis, Latin America's GDP is 25 percent higher than its precrisis level. José De Gregorio, Governor of the Central Bank of Chile from 2007 to 2011, tells the story of how Latin America has responded to the crisis with a perspective that only an insider can have. De Gregorio focuses on the seven largest economies of the region, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela (90 percent of the region's output). He argues that Latin America was resilient because of good macroeconomic policies, strong financial systems, and "a bit of luck."

Author Biography

José De Gregorio, nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics since March 2014, is full professor at the Department of Economics of the University of Chile. He was governor of the Central Bank of Chile from 2007 until 2011. Before that he was vice-governor from 2003 and member of the bank's board from 2001. During 2000 and 2001, De Gregorio was minister of the combined portfolios of economy, mining, and energy. Between 1997 and 2000 he was professor and head of postgraduate programs at the Center of Applied Economics at the University of Chile. He also served on the executive board of the Latin American Doctoral Program in Economics. From 1994 to 1997, he was coordinator of economic policy at the Ministry of Finance, Chile. From 1990 to 1994 he worked as an economist in the research department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).