This important new text provides a clear, comprehensive, and accessible overview of major economic issues facing Latin America today, including balance of payments problems, inflation, stabilization, poverty, inequality, and land reform. It captures trends and common issues and at the same time illustrates the diversity of national experiences.

Each chapter centers around an economic problem from such new topics as debt to more enduring issues like poverty and agrarian reform--and presents major economic theories on the causes and solutions to the problem. Complex equations and formulas are omitted; instead, the discussion focuses on the underlying logic of contending policy prescriptions. Cardoso and Helwege provide numerous cross-country examples and tables to demonstrate how individual countries are affected differently by economic trends or policies, gradually building a sense of the complexity of the Latin American economy and the policy implications behind economic solutions. Chapters also include helpful summaries and ideas on what the future may hold.