Professor Sebastian Edwards
University of California, Los Angeles
Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Business Economics at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). From 1993 until April 1996, he was the Chief Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank. He is also a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a member of the advisory board of Transnational Research Corporation and co-chairman of the Inter American Seminar on Economics (IASE). He has been President of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA), an international professional association of economists with academic interests in Latin America and the Caribbean region. He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Kiel Institute of World Economics, Kiel-Germany, and a member of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Council of Economic Advisors. Sebastian Edwards was born in Santiago, Chile. He was educated at the Catholic University of Chile, and received an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.
Sebastian Edwards will be at The Treasury from Monday 27th until Friday 31st March. The purpose of his visit is to prepare for a Macroeconomic Policy Forum to be hosted by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and The Treasury on Monday 12 June 2006. His internet site is http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/sebastian.edwards/ where you can access his research.
Abstract
For decades Latin America was characterized by macroeconomic instability and low growth. Some of the most traumatic currency crises of the last 15 years occurred in Latin America: Mexico 1994-95; Brazil 1999; Argentina 2001-2002; and Brazil 2002. During the last few years, however, Latin America’s economic performance has greatly improved.
Inflation is under control, growth has increased significantly, international reserves have grown to record levels and, perhaps more important, the region has been free of crises. What can we expect of Latin America in the years to come? Will the future bring growth and no crises? In this talk Professor Edwards will discuss the economic prospects for Latin America. In doing this he will rely on some of his academic work on openness and growth and on currency and current account crises. He will discuss the historical evidence current account reversal crises and how the likelihood of future occurrences in Latin America has changed.”