Economic crises: lessons of yesterday, the future challenges

Abstract

In order to enhance the understanding of the origins and dynamics of the economic crises that periodically affect the capitalist economy, this paper takes as a case study the “Debt crisis· of Latin America during the 1980s, a crisis that led to the “lost decade” in terms of development for the region. As a conclusion, the paper points to the need of going beyond the individualistic interpretations that put all the explanatory weight in the banker’s greed, the damaging creativity of financial engineering or the improvidence of incapable governments and irresponsible debtors. As an alternative, the paper suggests the need to look at the structural aspects of the model of insertion of the region in the global economy.