The Limits of Stabilization: Infrastructure, Public Deficits and Growth in Latin America

Latin America's macroeconomic crises of the 1980s and '90s forced a severe fiscal adjustment across the region. More often than not, fiscal stability was achieved at the cost of a drastic compression of public infrastructure spending, accompanied by the hope that the private sector would take the leading role in infrastructure provision.

This book documents the major trends in infrastructure provision in Latin America over the past two decades n order to assess the consequences of this changed public-private partnership from the perspective of economic growth, public finances, and the quantity and quality of infrastructure services. It will be of particular interest to those in the fields of infrastructure, fiscal policy, and economic growth, and anyone concerned with Latin America's development.

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William Easterly is Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development and the Institute for International Economics in Washington, DC. Luis Servén is Lead Specialist in the Office of the Chief Economist of the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank.