Americas Quarterly - Spring 2009

letter from the editor
The crisis appears to have broadened
the center, with most agreeing on the
need for fiscal stimulus with fiscal and
macroeconomic responsibility.

It’s impossible to escape the news and statistics about the economic downturn and the popular rage it’s unleashed, even if you wanted to. As the perpetual optimist, I scan news reports, the Dow and the news from Washington DC for some silver lining (though, I don’t even bother opening up my 401K statements anymore, preferring just to throw them in the trash directly from the mailbox). There isn’t much to be sanguine about, yet.

For those who focus on Latin America, the crisis evokes a particular concern that the fall-out will wipe out the democratic and economic gains of the last five years. At Americas Quarterly, we share the concern. At the same time we want to provide answers, proposals (tentative, perhaps) and within those a glimmer of hope. With that goal for our eighth issue (marking our second year), we ask how can we pull out of this.

As always, we explore an issue from a number of angles: trade, investment, international financial institutions, politics and policymaking, and social policy (including immigration). Some of the answers proposed by the economists, like Ricardo Hausmann or Mohamed El-Erian you may not agree with. And some of you may not agree with the prescriptions proposed by the policymakers and anti-poverty specialists, like former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Florencia Torche.

I suspect, however, that there is a fair amount in our feature section and in our upfront section that

we will agree on. If anything, the crisis appears to have broadened the center. While the populist extremes on either side exist and seem to get angrier by the day, most are converging in the middle, agreeing on the need for fiscal stimulus (Keynes is restored to the throne!) but all with fiscal and macroeconomic responsibility.

This will be the defining topic for the next year, one that AQ promises to continue to incorporate in all the subjects we cover, whether human rights, the environment or the new generation of leaders—the themes of our next three issues.

Then there’s the rest of the journal. We offer up our usual menu of items, from what’s new on the cultural front—a children’s CD produced by Carlos Vives, the 30th anniversary of Pedro Almodóvar’s first movie— to policy innovations and innovators—the effectiveness of women’s election quotas and one of the winners of the 2008 United Nations Human Rights Prize. Our goal is to offer a range of topics and personalities for people who care broadly about our region. Yes, we are first a policy publication, but more importantly we seek to be a journal more generally about the Americas—its changes, its diversity and its common interests.

Last, but certainly not least, we continue to update and upgrade our new website, www.americasquarterly. org, with separate content, regular blogs from our contributing writers and links to music and events. As always, we invite your comments and opinions.