The growth of the middle classes in Asia and Latin America: Is it sustainable?

• In Event: Modes of development, socio-economic and political sustainability in Latin America I

Abstract

Our main question in this paper will be in what respects is the mode of development of Asia (as characterized by China, but maybe extensible to other countries of this continent that are following the Korean, Taiwanese –and previously Japanese- mode of development) more sustainable than the one followed by Latin America. Is the progress of middle classes in China a more permanent phenomenon that the one in Latin America? Is the unsustainability of this growth of the middle classes in the case of Latin America related to redistribution, insufficient or faulty industrial policies due to (or leading to) a dependence on commodities exports or rather the lack of synchronization of both? In the case of Latin America, is a wage led growth strategy (such as the one followed by Brazil and Argentina) less efficient in assuring sustainability than an export led growth (such as the one followed by China, Mexico and Chile)? In the case of China, is sustainability due to higher productivity growth, higher investment rates, more accurate industrial policies? To what extent is the difference in Latin America and Asia a consequence of a different social covenant?

Author

• Ilan B Bizberg, El Colegio de México