On the morning of February 22, 2022, the Institute for International and Area Studies of Tsinghua University (IIAS) invited Professor Lucas Llach from the Department of History and Social Studies at the University of Ditra, Argentina, to deliver the first lecture themed “Inequality and Instability: Latin America in the Long Run” of the Economic History and Development in Latin America Lecture Series to students and faculty members inside and outside the institute. The lecture series was presided over by Yuan Mengqi, a postdoctoral researcher at the IIAS.

At the beginning of the lecture, Professor Llach briefly introduced the overall idea of the Economic History and Development in Latin America lecture series, which would be unfolded in the chronological order of history from the perspective of economic historiography to lead the audience to understand how the economic history of Latin America has developed and changed, learn about its relationship with the current situation of Latin America and be aware of the differences among Latin American countries. Professor Llach argued that Latin America’s long-term development has always been plagued by problems of inequality and instability. Obviously, Latin America is not a successful model of economic development, but its economic history is not only about failures; there have been some former or temporary successes. For example, Argentina’s economy from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, Venezuela’s rapid economic growth from the 1950s to the 1970s, Chile’s economy in the past 30 years, and so on.

As the first lecture in the series, Professor Llach began by providing a basic overview and historical consensus of the Latin American region at a macro level. He tried to summarize nine common characteristics of Latin America to help the audience better understand this region. The nine aspects he outlined include: First, under the influence of the history of western colonial aggression, Latin America became the largest Latin region with geographical continuity where native American languages and a few other foreign languages are continued at the same time. Second, Latin American countries have relatively equal levels of GNP per capita, with most being middle-income countries and little intra-regional variation. Third, there is widespread inequality in Latin America, with a wide gap between the rich and the poor. Fourth, Latin America is rich in natural capital, with high natural resources per capita, such as land area per capita. Fifth, Latin American countries mainly export primary products, which generally account for more than 60%, and the type of primary products exported by each country depends mainly on its comparative advantage of natural or human resources. Sixth, most countries in Latin America are highly urbanized and have a high proportion of their population in cities. Seventh, Latin America has a mixed population and race, mainly derived from native American Indians, European immigrants during the colonial period and black slaves from Africa. Eighth, most countries in Latin America share a common history of economic and independent development. They all experienced civil wars in the 19th century, but since then there have been few wars between states. All countries have emulated the U.S. political system, but all have had tortuous and erratic development. Ninth, Latin America suffered from long-term macroeconomic instability, such as high inflation rates from the 1950s to the 1970s.

During the Q&A session, the audience raised their hands and interacted with Professor Llach enthusiastically. The two sides had in-depth discussions on how to view the current economic crisis from the perspective of the origin of Latin American immigrants and how to understand the convergence of urbanization in different Countries in Latin America. Finally, the lecture came to an end in warm applause.

Professor Lucas Llach teaches in the Department of History and Social Studies at the University of Ditra, Argentina and holds a Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. He received his B.S. in economics from the University of Ditra, and his M.S. in history from Harvard University and economics from the University of Ditra. He served as Vice Governor of the Banco Central de La República Argentina from 2016-2018, and Vice Governor of the Banco de la Nación Argentina in 2019, where he was responsible for policy formulation and implementation of financial electronization and informatization across Argentina. His main research areas include economic history, Latin American present and contemporary history, and medieval history. He is the author of a number of books, including Como Sapiens: correr, comer, amar y descansar a la manera de los humanos (Debate, 2020), Macroeconomía argentina (Alfaomeaga, 2006), Entre la equidad y el crecimiento (Siglo XXI, 2004), El ciclo de la ilusión y el desencanto (Ariel, 1998), etc.