Progress, Poverty and Exclusion: An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century

"Progress, Poverty and Exclusion. An Economic History of Latin America in the 20th Century" is a fascinating book from the cover to the annexes. The contrast between a XX th century modern city and a shanty town showed in the cover gives the reader an initial idea of the position of the writer regarding Latin American economic development. Poverty, exclusion and income concentration are problems that are inherent to the vast majority of Latin American economies and Rosemary Thorp makes sure that the reader remembers that throughout the book. Her social focus is perfectly compatible with a serious economic analysis based on well-documented facts and statistical data. Every student of Latin American history, politics and economics should have this book in his or her shelves. Furthermore, any scholar dealing with Latin American issues should not forget to read Thorp's work "every morning" to remember what is that the Latin American economies achieved in the course of a hundred years. Finally, I highly recommend accompanying the reading of this book with another masterpiece, "The Economic History of Latin America" by Victor Bulmer-Thomas