Debt Crisis and Class Conflict in Latin America

This paper studies the relationship between income distribution, class relations, and the debt crisis in Latin America. We develop and test a simple class-analytic surplus model in which debt accumulation and crisis adjustment are both likely to involve significant reductions in wage share. We show that income inequality has worsened in the 1980s and argue that this may actually deepen the regional crisis. We conclude with a discussion of distributionally progressive alternatives.

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