Unavoidable Differences

Brazil vs. Washington

By MARK WEISBROT

"From 1960-1980, when according to Washington folklore the region’s governments couldn’t do anything right, the average Latin American’s income grew by 82 percent. From 1980- 2009, a much longer period filled with Washington-sponsored neoliberal reforms, it grew by about 18 percent. No wonder that most of the electorate in the region has voted over the last decade to reject neoliberal policies. It is little comfort that the U.S.-based authors of failed policies in Latin America have now managed to tank the U.S. economy as well."