November 9, 2023 at 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM EST
A light lunch will be served. A limited number of books will be given away at the event.
In-Person Location: World Bank Main Complex MC13-121 | 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC
World Bank Governance Global Practice Book Talks welcomed Sebastian Edwards and his presentation on his book The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism, on how the neoliberal economic model—installed in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship and deepened during three decades of left-of-center governments—came to an end in 2021.
The Governance Global Practice Book Talks presents recent books by leading global experts. These series include books that are written for a broad audience and cover public policy areas that are relevant for Governance and beyond. This event is co-sponsored by the Office of the Chief Economist for the Latin America and the Caribbean Region.
About the Book:
In The Chile Project, Sebastian Edwards tells the remarkable story of how the neoliberal economic model—installed in Chile during the Pinochet dictatorship and deepened during three decades of left-of-center governments—came to an end in 2021, when Gabriel Boric, a young former student activist, was elected president, vowing that “If Chile was the cradle of neoliberalism, it will also be its grave.” More than a story about one Latin American country, The Chile Project is a behind-the-scenes history of the spread and consequences of the free-market thinking that dominated economic policymaking around the world in the second half of the twentieth century—but is now on the retreat. In 1955, the U.S. State Department launched the “Chile Project” to train Chilean economists at the University of Chicago, home of the libertarian Milton Friedman. After General Augusto Pinochet overthrew socialist president Salvador Allende in 1973, Chile’s “Chicago Boys” implemented the purest neoliberal model in the world for the next seventeen years, undertaking a sweeping package of privatization and deregulation, creating a modern capitalist economy, and sparking talk of a “Chilean miracle.” But under the veneer of success, a profound dissatisfaction with the vast inequalities caused by neoliberalism was growing. In 2019, protests erupted throughout the country, and in 2022 Boric began his presidency with a clear mandate: to end neoliberalismo. In telling the fascinating story of the Chicago Boys and Chile’s free-market revolution, The Chile Project provides an important new perspective on the history of neoliberalism and its global decline today.
