Latin America's Political Economy of the Possible: Beyond Good Revolutionaries and Free-Marketeers (Book Review‪)‬

Latin America's Political Economy of the Possible: Beyond Good Revolutionaries and Free-Marketeers Javier Santiso Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2006, 250 pp. The subtitle of this book caused this reviewer concern. A book that equates free markets with populism, blames both for Latin America's failure, and eulogizes pragmatism is something that needs to be challenged. (I refer to the Latin American brand of populism, not the Jeffersonian kind, of course.) However, a classical liberal such as the author of this review can live with much of the book's content--provided there is some clarification about the terms employed to describe what works and doesn't work. It is thought-provoking, well-argued, and intelligently constructed.