Full Description:
A group of Latin American economists educated at the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman. They returned to Chile to implement radical free-market reforms—privatization, deregulation, and cuts to social spending—under the protection of the Pinochet dictatorship. The Chicago Boys were the technocratic architects of the region’s neoliberal transformation. Because their policies were unpopular and would likely have been rejected by a democratic electorate, they required the “shock” of military rule to be implemented. They dismantled the developmentalist state, opening the economy to global capital and privatizing pensions and healthcare.
Critical Perspective:
This group exemplifies the link between authoritarianism and early neoliberalism. It serves as a historical counter-argument to the claim that capitalism and democracy are inseparable. In reality, the “freedom” of the market was established through the destruction of political freedom. The economy was “liberated” only because the people were imprisoned, proving that the invisible hand sometimes requires an iron fist.
