Liberalismo e tecnocracia: um estudo comparativo das políticas econômicas nos regimes autoritários do Chile (1973-1982) e da Argentina (1976-1982)

Abstract

The most part of the literature about the military dictatorships of Chile (1973-1990) and Argentina (1976-1982) concentrate in the analysis of economic policy focusing a balance of economic policy implemented, as whole or especific policies, techinical instruments, the economic and social results. In general, this literature concludes that the economic policy in Chile was more radical on monetarist principles application than in Argentina. On the other hand, there are relatively few works that integrate dynamically the economic policy analyses to role of economists as technocrats and its conflits. That is, treating economic tem as nonmonolithic and looking political conditions to formulation and direction of the economic policy. This aspect together with the comparative approach is part of the research contribution. Thus, the dissertation aims to contribute to this literature gap of economic history, and intersecting the history of economic thought in relation to economic ideas diffusion and its concrete impacts on the direction of economic policies. The aim of the research is analyse comparatively the economic policy formulation and its results since de interpretative optics that privileges the participation of the economists in government. For archieving the research goal, the methods blends documental analysis and a bibliografy reserach. The documental analyses concentrated first into economic plans, El Ladrillo in Chile and Programa de Expansión, Recuperación y Expansión de la Economía, for verification of initial intentions, and so in many of public declarations of members of economic along the implementation of economic polices to observe possible changes and conflits. Furthermore, the research base on interviews, newspaper articles, biographys and testemonial works of many economists to clarify the disputes in the decision making. This is articúlate with the bibliography of economists participation and conflits of the technicals in the governament to balance the limits of the first type of research. The results of the study suggest that the economic team wasn’t monolitics, and they had intense conflicts between economists and other professionals who ran the economy. The Chicago boys had more internal cohesion and had Pinochet’s support so through a series of political and institucional movements within state with alliances, persuasion and conflicts, get more capacity and power than in argentine case to win resistance from certain military fractions, and specifically from other economists and profissionals who had alternative economic policy projects. In the other hand, Martínez de Hoz, a lawyer and self-taught pragmatic in economics, moved institutionally in state to try win restrictions in decision making of military camp, that interfered with more intensity in the economic pólices, but also traditional liberals outside the governemnt and the management within his economic team (between traditional liberals and technocratic liberals). Although the differents degrees of implementation and social armor, both economic policy experiences favored financial sector to the detriment of industrial sector and workers.