Bilingual seminar series examines changing global market, trade

By Dexter Gauntlett
Daily Bruin Reporter

Latin American scholars and economists held a round table
discussion with UCLA professors Tuesday to converse about Argentina
and Mexico’s political economies.

The bilingual seminar was the second in a series of discussions
hosted by the Center for Latin American Studies. The series’
aim is to enhance the existing resource base at UCLA for linking
major Latin American countries to the world market, according to
Professor James Wilkie, chair for UCLA programs on Mexico.

Discussing the history of economic policies, the panel at the
Faculty Center recognized the importance of globalization ““
international economic expansion ““ and how it is no longer
focused solely on the United States and the 1993 North American
Free Trade Agreement, but also on the expansion of Latin American
countries’ economic ties.

“The reference point used to be the U.S. as we tried to
establish a free trade organization; now everyone wonders how to
compare with their own trade policies,” Wilkie said.

“Now everything is connected ““ commerce, trade,
education, culture and all socio-economic conditions,” he
continued.

Wilkie cited Mexico as one of those countries that has expanded
beyond the confines of NAFTA.

Mexico has made trade agreements with Israel, Brazil and the
European Union ““ something the U.S. has not been able to do,
he said.

Argentina, meanwhile, is having trouble attracting foreign
investment from private enterprises that would spur its economy.
According to UCLA Professor Sebastián Edwards, a former chief
economist at the World Bank, Argentina is in its fourth year of
deep economic recession.

Economics Professor Arnold Harberger, who spoke at the event,
said Argentina was heading for bankruptcy and that the country
should devaluate its currency to attract foreign investment.

Argentina has suffered from inflation, high tariffs and state
control of the industry since 1930, Wilkie said.

Miguel Rivera Ríos, who fled Argentina in the 1970s for
political reasons, is a professor at the Universidad Nacional
Autónoma de México. He addressed the need to improve the
quality of the economic integration of Latin America and
Argentina.

“The ’90s were a crucial decade for the economy.
With the extension of technology such as telecommunications and
microelectronics, it created a condition for linking the global
economy beyond North America, Europe and Japan,” he said.

Ríos called for several changes to occur in Argentina that
would spark economic integration, including improvement of
education, promotion of technical support and an increase in the
standard of living.

While Mexico has proven it can expand outside trade with the
United States, Argentina might need to increase its ties with the
U.S. to regain economic stability, Wilkie said.

The discussion focused on the possible shift to a fully
dollarized Argentina in order to strengthen its economy ““ a
tactic used in Ecuador, Panama and El Salvador.

Argentina is already basing its prices on the dollar by changing
its prices as the exchange-rate varies, Wilkie said.

“Moving to the dollar would provide stability for foreign
investment to come in and integrate Argentina into the world
economy because people know what the prices are,” he
said.

The policy, however, would make the Argentine economy more
susceptible to downturns in the U.S. economy, Wilkie said.

The panelists conceded that many of the topics discussed would
not have immediate answers, and the forum was instead supposed to
facilitate open discussion.

“How the events are unfolding, it’s hard to know
where it’s going to end,” Wilkie said.

One thing that’s for sure, Wilkie said, is that Latin
American governments want long-term foreign investment to diversify
the industry that stays and creates jobs ““ a request contrary
to Argentina’s state-run history, the focus of which was on
national industrialization.