The State and Capital Accumulation in Latin America: Volume 1: Brazil, Chile, Mexico

268 Pages·1985·25.71 MB·English

by  Christian Anglade

The State and Capital
Accumulation in Latin
America
EDITED BY
CHRISTIAN ANGLADE
CARLOS FORTIN
LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SERIES
THE STATE AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION IN LATIN
AMERICA
The last 10 years have witnessed a major change in the economic
development models being implemented in Latin America. The
reformist promise of the import-substituting industrialisation period
and of the 'populist state' has given way to export-oriented models
aimingatfull integrationin the worldeconomy.Thesemodels, farfrom
attempting to redress traditional patterns ofinequality in the distribu
tion of national income, tend to rely on repressive wage policies to
secure both the docilityofthe 'dangerousclasses' and the generationof
a surplus for capital accumulation.
In some instances, export-oriented models have retained an indus
trialisingbias; in others,the objective has been toincrease theexportof
primary products and to import any goods which are produced at a
'comparative advantage' elsewhere. Two features, however, have
appearedinallcases:on the one handagrowingdependenceoninflows
of foreign financial capital to make up the balanceofpaymentsdeficits
due to increased imports of capital and intermediate or consumer
goods; on the other, a stepped up role for the state, whether in an
essentially repressive capacity or combining also a role in direct
production and accumulation. This has been so evenin cases in which
the explicit goal ofthe model was to putan end to state interferencein
the economy.
Thedegreeofsuccess ofthese policiesinterms ofgrowth and capital
accumulation has varied. In the I970s,severalcountriesachieved levels
ofgrowth that were hailed by the defendersofthe model as 'economic
miracles'. By the 1980s, however, the contradictions ofthe policies of
'growth on credit' had burst through:the levelof foreign indebtedness
had become unbearable, economic growth had sloweddown, accumu
lation had seemingly stopped.
The time, therefore, appears ripe for an evaluation ofthe chances of
capitalist development in Latin America in the light of the export
oriented experience. Such an evaluation requires an inquiry into the
complex patterns of relations between processes of capital accumu
lationand the role ofthe state,andoftheinteractionbetween thesocial
and political struggle and the economic mechanisms ofaccumulation.
This book is the first ofa two-volume study of Latin America and
examines in detail Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Also in this volume isthe
historical and conceptual introduction to the role of the state.
Volume2willanalyseArgentina,Colombia,Uruguay, Bolivia,Peru,
Venezuela and Ecuador.
LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES SERIES
General Editors: Philip O'Brien and Peter Flynn
The seriesisa new initiative designed to give a comprehensive analysis
of some of the many complex problems facing contemporary Latin
America and individual Latin American countries.
Published
Christian Anglade and Carlos Fortin (editors)
THE STATE AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION IN LATIN
AMERICA, Volume I
David Booth and Bernardo Sorj (editors)
MILITARY REFORMISM AND SOCIAL CLASSES: The Peruvian
Experience, 1968-80
Rhys Jenkins
TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS AND INDUSTRIAL
TRANSFORMATION IN LATIN AMERICA
Forthcoming
Jean Carriere (editor)
POLITICS, INDUSTRIAL RELATioNS AND THE LABOUR
MOVEMENT IN LATIN AMERICA, 1860-1980 (two volumes)
Joe Foweraker
CLASS DOMINATION ANDTHEAUTHORITARIANSTATE: A
Political Economy ofLatin America
Christian Anglade and Carlos Fortin (editors)
THE STATE AND CAPITAL ACCUMULATION IN LATIN
AMERICA, Volume 2
THE STATE AND
CAPITAL
ACCUMULATION IN
LATIN AMERICA
Volume 1: Brazil, Chile, Mexico
Edited by
Christian Anglade and
Carlos Fortin
M
MACMILLAN
© Christian Anglade and Carlos Fortin 1985
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1985 978-0-333-34381-4
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.
No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London WI P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.
First published 1985 by
THE MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 2XS
and London
Companies and representatives
throughout the world
ISBN 978-1-349-06554-7 ISBN 978-1-349-06552-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-06552-3
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Reprinted 1992
Contents
List ofTables vi
Preface ix
List ofAbbreviations xi
Notes on Contributors
XIII
The State and Capital Accumulation in Latin America: a
Conceptual and Historical Introduction
ChristianAnglade and CarlosFortin
2 TheStateand Capital Accumulation in Contemporary Brazil
ChristianAnglade 52
3 The Political Economy of Repressive Monetarism: the State
and Capital Accumulation in Post-1973 Chile
CarlosFortin 139
4 The Financial Constraint on Relative Autonomy: the State
and Capital Accumulation in Mexico, 1940-82
E. V.K. FitzGerald 210
Index 241
v
List of Tables
2.1 Brazil:growth rates, 1968-73 54
2.2 Brazil:growth rates, 1958--61 55
2.3 Brazil:budget deficit,publicsavings and inflation, 1958-62 59
2.4 Brazil:income distribution in Brazil, 1960, 1970 68
2.5 Brazil:rate of growth ofindustrial production, 1972-79 71
2.6 Brazil:savings and inflation, 1971-79 78
2.7 Brazil:growth of loans to the private sector, 1970-79 79
2.8 Brazil:rate ofgrowthofthe money supply and ofinflation 81
2.9 Brazil: balance of payments deficit: summary accounts,
1971-79 83
2.10 Brazil:growth and profile ofthe external debt, 1970-79 84
2.11 Brazil:distributionofassets and profitsamongfirms, 1976 90
2.12 Brazil:domestic savings and capital formation, 1971-79 92
2.13 Brazil:wage distribution by sectors, 1977 98
2.14 Brazil: balance of payments deficit: summary accounts,
1979-82 107
2.15 Brazil: global expenditure of the federal government,
1979-82 112
2.16 Brazil:operational deficit ofstate companies, 1979-82 112
2.17 Brazil:domestic savings and capital formation 117
2.18 Brazil:income distribution, 1960, 1970, 1980 123
2.19 Brazil:the wagestructure, 1980 124
2.20 Brazil: rate of growth of inflation and INPC, June-Sep-
tember, 1983 126
3.1 Chile:public investment in fixedcapital, 1961-69 145
3.2 Chile:distribution ofthe equity ofindustrial stock
companies by type ofshareholders, 1967-69 146
3.3 Chile:state control over industrial enterprises, 1970-72 148
3.4 Chile:financial deficitofstate enterprises, 1971-73 149
3.5 Chile:real salaries and wages, 1970-82 163
vi
List ofTahles vii
3.6 Chile: unemployment, open and total, 1970-81 163
3.7 Chile:publicexpenditureexcludingdebt asa percentageof
GOP, 1969-70 and 1974-82 165
3.8 Chile: evolution ofpublic expenditure, 1970-79 166
3.9 Chile: real internal interest rate and interest rate for
external credit, 1975-81 168
3.10 Chile: index of real dollar rate of exchange for imports,
1973-81 169
3.11 Chile: copper prices, 1970-82 170
3.12 Chile: balance ofpayments, 1974-81 171
3.13 Chile: number ofpublic enterprises, 1970-77 173
3.14 Chile: revenue ofstate enterprises as percentage of GOP,
1978-82 174
3.15 Chile: financial operations ofpublic enterprises, 1978-82 176
3.16 Chile: financial operations ofthe consolidated public sec-
tor, 1978-82 177
3.17 Chile: indicators ofwelfare, 1974-81 182
3.18 Chile: distribution ofpayments to capital bymain sectors,
1960-81 186
3.19 Chile: sources ofsavings, 1970-81 190
3.20 Chile:authorisedandactual foreign investment bysectors,
1974-83 191
3.21 Chile: public and private shares ofgross domestic invest-
ment, 1970-81 191
3.Al Chile: gross investment in fixedcapital as a percentage of
GOP and index ofper capita domestic investment in
fixed capital, 1960-82 204
3.A2 Chile: sectoral shares ofGOP, selected years, 1907-82 205
3.A3 Chile: payments to labour as percentages of domestic
income, selected years, 1940-81 206
3.A4 Chile:annual rateofchangeofGOPand per capita GOP
andindex ofper capitaGOPand percapita industrial
value added, 1960-82 207
3.A5 Chile: variation ofthe consumer price index, 1950-82 208
3.A6 Chile: foreign debt and reserves, 1960-81 209
4.A1 Mexico: sectoral growth and expenditurecomposition 236
4.A2 Mexico: gross fixed capital formation by institutional
sector 237
4.A3 Mexico: sources ofsavings 238
viii List ofTables
4.A4 Mexico: public sector accumulation account 238
4.A5 Mexico:external debt 239
4.A6 Mexico: functional distribution ofincome, 1940-80 240
Preface
The originsofthis book go back to the 1978ConferenceofthePolitical
Studies Association of the UK when Christian Anglade convened a
session on the state and capital accumulation in Latin America with
papers on Chile by Carlos Fortin and on Brazil by Anglade himself.
The papers exhibited an uncommon degree of similarity in approach,
and this, together with the response of the small but incisive group
attending the session, led us to think that the topic wasworth pursuing
with a view to a volume ofcase studies covering the more industrially
advanced countries ofthe continent.
Wewere further encouraged laterthatyear when Fortinsubmitteda
revised version ofhis paper to a seminaron the stateand industrialisa
tion in Latin America held at CEDLA in Amsterdam. Also presented
to the seminar was a paper on the state and capital accumulation in
Mexico by Valpy FitzGerald, and again the coincidence of issues and
approaches was striking. FitzGerald agreed to produce a case study
based on his contribution to the seminar, and other papers were
commissioned on Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay.
A numberofinterveningfactors delayed progressinthe projectuntil
1981.Bythe end ofthat year, however, the Brazilian and Chilean case
studieswere growinginto medium length monographs, and the volume
as a whole was far exceeding the original format. The idea of a two
volume book covering all South American countries - except Para
guay, a special case - plus Mexico was then discussed and agreed.
Further papers were commissioned on Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and
Venezuela, and the editors undertook to write a substantial introduc
tion presenting both historical materials and the conceptual frame
work.
We believe this attempt is now particularly timely. The collapse in
the eighties of the export-oriented models that had been adopted by
many Latin American countries in the preceding decade - and which
had in somecases been hailed as 'economic miracles' - has once again
ix