Study Guide for Mid-term Exam
You will answer three questions on the exam worth 10 points each
1) Populism was a prevalent response to the Great Depression in Latin America. Define this term, and discuss the political and economic strategies of either the Vargas government in Brazil or the Cardenas government in Mexico.
2) By the end of World War II income inequality had already become deeply ingrained in Latin America. What are the main causes of income inequality in the region, and why has it been so difficult to eradicate highly polarized patterns in the distribution of wealth?
3) Was import-substitution-industrialization an unmitigated failure in Latin America? Define this development strategy and offer a balanced critique of it.
4) Compare and contrast the economic impact of the three big shocks that hit Latin America between 1900-1950.
5) What are the main factors of endowment and key features of these factors that are considered to contribute most favorably to economic development?
6) What were the main features of Peronism in post-World War II Argentina? Despite Peron’s downfall in the coup of 1955, the Peronist movement is still alive and well in Argentina. How would you explain the lasting hold of Peronism on the Argentine public?
7) The period 1900-1914 has frequently been referred to as the “good times” for Latin America because the region was thriving on primary exports to Britain, Europe and the U.S. What are the advantages and disadvantages of a development model based primarily on raw material production for export?
You will answer 5 ID questions, for 1 point each:
Capital Scarcity
Commodity Lottery
Economic Populism
Enclave Development
Exchange Rate
Export pessimism
Import substitution industrialization
Structuralism
Eva