Economic Policy after the 1999 Recession

Abstract

In 1998 the Chilean economy ended a period of exceptional (actual and potential) GDP growth. A high ratio of productive investment gave support to that dynamism, which allowed improvement in the quality of employment, and contributed to partially reverting the regressive outcomes of the economic reforms of the 1970s and 1980s. However, since 1998, the economic dynamism and some key features of economic policy have shown significant changes. Consequently, from the perspective of the economic performance of the Concertación governments, there is a need to distinguish subperiods with different emphases and priorities. While per capita GDP climbed by 5.4% per year in 1990–8, the rate of increase dropped to 2.6% in 1999–2008; actually, it was a sharp slowdown, even though it was still above the 2% average of LACs and the 1.6% of the United States.