The United States and the Economic Performance of Chile Under Augusto Pinochet, 1974-1990

This paper is devoted to the analysis of Chilean economic performance under Augusto Pinochet in 1974-1990. After overthrowing Salvador Allende through the military takeover, the new Chilean leader came up with the solution to restructure national economy by adopting a bundle of neoliberal reforms. However, it was hardly possible for Augusto Pinochet to conduct such a remarkable transformation alone. That is why many political scientists highlight a special role played by the United States, and more specifically by the so-called “Chicago Boys”, in assisting the Chilean dictator in designing and implementing economic reforms. For some scholars this set of bold and sometimes even radical changes appeared to be so effective as to consider the outcome an economic miracle. However, this point of view seems to be really debatable. Despite the new strategy had some positive effects on Chilean economic performance in the short run, it hardly succeeded to fix a number of burning issues, such as poverty and inequality, in the long run. Hence, the purpose of this research is twofold. Firstly, it tries to figure out is it appropriate to treat these economic transformations as a miracle. Secondly, it analyzes the role of the US in promoting and adopting neoliberalism in Chile.