Understanding Latin America's recent economic performance calls for a multidisciplinary analysis. This handbook looks at the interaction of economics and politics in the region and includes a number of contributions from top academic experts who have also served as key policy makers, reflecting upon the challenges of reform.

0 Introduction - Javier Santiso and Jeff Dayton-Johnson: Introduction and Overview ; I The View From The Inside: Practitioners Reflect On Making Reform Happen ; 1. Political Leadership and Economic Reform: The Brazilian Experience in the Context of Latin America (1-51) ; Fernando Henrique Cardoso with Eduardo Graeff ; 2. Politics of Fiscal Reforms in Peru (52-94) ; Luis Carranza ; 3. The Political Economy of Fiscal Policy: the Experience of Chile (95-133) ; Andres Velasco and Eric Parrado ; 4. Industrial Policy and Economic Transformation (134 - 188) ; Luciano Coutinho, Joao Carlos Ferraz, Andre Nassif and Rafael Oliva ; 5. Monetary Policy under Uncertainty (189 - 207) ; Martin Redrado ; II The Politics of Economics: Historical, Geographic and Institutional Perspectives ; 6. A Historical Perspective on the Political Economy of Inequality in Latin America (208 - 236) ; Rosemary Thorp ; 7. Achievements and Shortcomings of Cuba's Economic Policies, 1990-2010 (237 - 268) ; Paolo Spadoni ; 8. Global and Regional Integration in Latin America and the Caribbean (1990-2010) (269 - 298) ; Juan Blyde, Antoni Estevadeordal and Mauricio Mesquita Moreira ; 9. Does Asia Matter? The Political Economy of Latin America's International Relations (299 - 332) ; Barbara Stallings ; 10. A Catalyst for Hope: China's Opportunity for Latin America (333 - 363) ; Kevin P. Gallagher ; III The Politics of Economics and the Economics of Politics ; 11. How (Not) to Produce Effective Policies? Institutions and Policymaking in Latin America (364 - 391) ; Mariano Tommasi and Carlos Scartascini ; 12. The Politics of Global Financial Markets in Latin America (392 - 424) ; Daniela Campello ; 13. Cabinet Stability and Policymaking in Latin America (425 - 458) ; Cecilia Martinez Gallardo and Maria Victoria Murillo ; 14. International Capital Markets and their Latin American Discontents (459 - 492) ; Christopher Balding ; 15. Natural Resources and Democracy in Latin America: Neither Curse Nor Blessing (493 - 512) ; Stephen Haber and Victor Menaldo ; 16. Contrasting Capitalisms: Latin America in Comparative Perspective (513- 549) ; Ben Ross Schneider ; 17. Ulysses and the Sirens: Political and technical rationality in Latin America (550 - 609) ; Laurence Whitehead and Javier Santiso ; IV Political Economy of Fiscal and Social Policies. ; 18. Killing Me Softly: Local Termites and Fiscal Violence in Brazil and Mexico ( 610 - 669) ; Carlos Elizondo and Javier Santiso ; 19. The political economy of public spending and fiscal deficits: lessons for Latin America (670 - 711) ; Marcela Eslava ; 20. Taxation and Democracy in Latin America (712- 737) ; Christian Daude and Angel Melguizo ; 21. Revisiting Political Budget Cycles in Latin America (738 - 765) ; Sebastian Nieto Parra and Javier Santiso ; 22. Labor Market in Latin America and the Caribbean: The Missing Reform (766 - 795) ; Alejandro Micco and Pablo Egana

Selling point: Political economy is not a new way of looking at Latin American development, but this handbook brings together and extends recent work that looks at new trends -- democratic consolidation, macro stability, Asian trading partners -- that earlier authors did not. Selling point: Political economy is all about "trespassing" between economics and political science, according to A.O. Hirschman. This book draws upon a new type of trespassing -- the academic expert who has also been a top policy maker (e.g. president, minister of finance). Many of this new breed contribute here, reflecting on the rough and tumble world of policy reform.

Javier Santiso is a leading specialist on emerging markets and on Latin America in particular. He is a professor of economics at the ESADE Business School (Madrid) and director of the ESADE Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics He was formerly Director and Chief Economist at the OECD Development Centre. In 2009 he was recognized as one of the Young Global leaders by the World Economic Forum and in 2010 he was named one of the most influential intellectuals by Foreign Policy. Jeff Dayton-Johnson is a development economist who has worked extensively on Latin America as well as other parts of the developing world. He is an associate professor of international trade and development at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. His published research covers many areas, including international migration, inequality, fiscal policy, natural disasters, foreign aid, social cohesion, cultural policy, irrigation, and local management of natural resources.

Selling point: Political economy is not a new way of looking at Latin American development, but this handbook brings together and extends recent work that looks at new trends -- democratic consolidation, macro stability, Asian trading partners -- that earlier authors did not. Selling point: Political economy is all about "trespassing" between economics and political science, according to A.O. Hirschman. This book draws upon a new type of trespassing -- the academic expert who has also been a top policy maker (e.g. president, minister of finance). Many of this new breed contribute here, reflecting on the rough and tumble world of policy reform.