Where Latin American government leaders once looked at free trade agreements as solely about trade and trading policies, they are increasingly viewing them as the next beacon of hope in the long and arduous road of economic reform.
Integrating the Americas: FTAA and Beyond discusses how these governments have become embroiled in a larger set of issues affecting both institutions. This work, based on a conference sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies, examines how this free trade process is surging ahead, while at the same time taking on a broader set of issues including institutional reform, transparency, the environment, labor, and social cohesion. The payoffs to the strategy of liberalization, privatization, and openness have been meager and disappointing to date. Will the FTAA be able to reverse this and allow Latin America to reap the benefits of globalization?
Antoni Estevadeordal is a Principal Trade Economist of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Dani Rodrik is Rafiq Hariri Professor of International Political Economy at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Alan M. Taylor is Professor of Economics at the University of California, Davis.
Andrés Velasco is Sumitomo Fasid Professor of International Development at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.