Raul Prebisch was a leader in economic development theory and international economic policy, an institution builder, and an international diplomat. The Life and Times of Raul Prebisch, 1901-1986 provides the first book-length account of his life and work, a story cast against the backdrop of Latin America, the Cold War, the rise of the United Nations, and the struggle for equity between First and Third Worlds. A wunderkind, Prebisch occupied key positions at the Argentine Ministry of Finance in his twenties and was the general manager of the Argentine Central Bank before age forty. Exiled by Juan Peron after World War II, he became arguably the most influential Latin American official at the UN, heading such international organizations as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. He was the first to conceptualize the relationship between developed countries and Latin America in terms of "center-periphery" - a foundational concept in structuralist economics. Edgar Dosman has used archival research and interviews with family, friends, and associates to look at the historical and political contexts of Prebisch's career, providing new information on such topics as the creation and development of international networks, the tensions within international bureaucracies, and the constitution of a Latin American field of social sciences. Many of Prebisch's ideas were originally rejected as unorthodox but are now taken for granted. His life and work remain an enduring symbol of leadership for Latin America and the global community.

The first book-length biography of the Argentinian economist who transformed our thinking about first and third world relations.

About the Author
Edgar J. Dosman, senior research fellow, Centre for International and Security Studies, York University, has written extensively on Latin America and was the founding director of FOCAL (Canadian Foundation for the Americas).

Reviews
"Best known for his ideas about trade, Raul Prebisch, an Argentine economist who was often talked about as "Latin America's Keynes", may be due for rehabilitation. An invaluable biography." Economist "Mandatory reading for everybody interested in Latin America." Mariano Ben Plotkin, researcher at the Instituto de Desarrollo Economico y Social in Buenos Aires and professor at the Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero "A comprehensive and very readable account of a fascinating personality - this will, for some considerable period and perhaps forever, be the definitive source on Prebisch's personal life and career." Gerry Helleiner, Munk Institute for International Studies, University of Toronto "It is hard to think of a better moment for the appearance of the first full biography of Raul Prebisch, an Argentine who was a towering figure in the international debates on economic development from the 1940s to the 1970s...Mr Dosman has read everything Prebisch wrote and interviewed many of those who were closest to him. His research is exhaustive. In rescuing Prebisch for a new generation, and above all in allowing the reader to separate the man from the myth, he has performed a valuable service for all those interested in economic thinking in Latin America and in the field of international development in general." Economist, 5th March 2009



Book Information
ISBN 9780773534124
Author Edgar Dosman
Format Hardback
Page Count 624
Imprint McGill-Queen's University Press
Publisher McGill-Queen's University Press
Weight(grams) 1082g