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Andrés Velasco

Writing for PS since 2001
110 commentaries

Andrés Velasco, a former presidential candidate and finance minister of Chile, is Dean of the School of Public Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He is the author of numerous books and papers on international economics and development, and has served on the faculty at Harvard, Columbia, and New York Universities.

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Latin America’s Pandemic of Woe
Andre Coelho/Getty Images

Latin America’s Pandemic of Woe

Jan 14, 2021 Mauricio Cárdenas, et al. fear that a protracted economic crisis could cause the region’s political climate to worsen in 2021.

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Chile’s Great Pension Raid
Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images

Chile’s Great Pension Raid

Dec 14, 2020 Andrés Velasco is alarmed by the public's embrace of a pandemic support scheme that could empty savers' retirement accounts.

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The COVID Reset Latin America Needs
Martin Bernetti/AFP via Getty Images

The COVID Reset Latin America Needs

Nov 9, 2020 Mauricio Cárdenas, et al. identify two structural weaknesses that the pandemic has highlighted – and that policymakers must overcome.

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Are We All Keynesians Again?
Tim Gidal/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Are We All Keynesians Again?

Aug 25, 2020 Andrés Velasco asks what an era of larger, more robust state intervention in the economy can and should mean.

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The Call of the Tribal
Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Call of the Tribal

Jul 8, 2020 Andrés Velasco explains why many Republican voters in the United States willingly tolerate their leaders' policy reversals.

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A Pledge for Africa
May 2, 2020

Advanced countries are spending 10% of GDP or more in their anti-crisis packages. Poor countries need to spend at least a fraction of that, but they simply do not have the resources. The gap between high- and low- income nations has never been so wide and so painful. After all the rhetoric about standing together against a common enemy, the world must stand put its money where its mouth is. The opportunity to do so is the Global Health Pledging Conference on May 4.
Why Economic Recovery Won’t Defeat Populism
Jan 26, 2018

Try the following exercise. In your comment, substitute Donald Trump for populism. It would read like this: You have to laugh when the election of Donald Trump is endlessly described or implied as being a negative event. It is simply a valid democratic outcome due to voters expressing a view. Criticise Trump and you criticise democracy. Now, would you agree?
- Steve Hurst Jan 26, 2018
  
  Andre, Trump is duly elected. I dont like what he is but many did and apparently still do. There is the opportunity to democratically get rid of him at the end of his term, or to reelect him. Trump when he does actually do something is doing what he said he would do, and thats what people voted for. Here in the UK we have Brexit which I voted against. I accept the majority here want Brexit and it is likely to happen. BTW on the popularity figures Trump is not likely to get reelected, but if things pick up in the US he could get reelected. It all comes down to consumer confidence
  - Martin Maldonado Jan 27, 2018
    
    In his book "The Future of Freedom," Fareed Zakaria makes the argument that democracy in itself cannot ensure freedom or positive civic outcomes. To accept populism as positive is to accept the worst failures of democratic regimes, which are rooted in deep institutional inequalities for basic needs. One cannot explain away a negative democratic outcome simply on the basis that it is an democratic outcome. This is circular logic.
    
    Rather, politics and policy have to be examined in conjunction. Where masses are dissatisfied, honest solutions should be developed. Populism is dishonest by default in portraying certain segments of people as the cause of political and economic problems. As such, true solutions are difficult to come across in populist governing agendas.
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