Development and Co-operation Programme - [02/22/2008]

In Latin America, a social contract is more possible now than ever before

Presentation of the book "Towards a new social contract. Economic policies for comprehensive development in Latin America”

Madrid, Casa de América, 13 February 2008

On 13 February, the CIDOB Foundation (in collaboration with the Casa de América and the Fundación Carolina) presented the book “Towards a new social contract. Economic policies for comprehensive development in Latin America”. The publication is a compilation of the addresses given at the eponymous seminar held in Barcelona in October 2006, within the framework of the Ibero-American Development Agenda and in the lead-up to the 26th Ibero-American Summit to be held in Montevideo. The event was presided over by Enrique Iglesias, the Ibero-American Secretary General, and featured the participation of the book’s co-editors - José Luis Machinea, Executive Secretary of ECLAC and Narcís Serra, President of the CIDOB Foundation - as well as the Secretary of State for the Economy, David Vegara.

During the presentation, Narcís Serra explained that the choice of the social contract as the subject of the 2006 ADI seminar and of the resulting publication was a result of the difficulties that Latin America is currently facing in terms of translating a period of unprecedented economic growth that is expected to continue (based to a great extent on exports of natural resources, without any fall in demand foreseen) into an improvement in the quality of life of its inhabitants and an increase in social welfare that will permeate all layers of society. Serra announced that CIDOB was planning to continue with the line of work commenced at the Salamanca summit, and to carry on inviting Latin American economists to Spain, to promote debates linked with the Ibero-American summits.

Meanwhile, José Luis Machinea stressed that the social contract is the result of a need to carry on reducing poverty in the region, and especially the problem of unfairness that continues to exist. The big challenge - he claimed - is the implicit fiscal agreement that should accompany the social contract. Machinea pointed out that what ECLAC stated in 1998 regarding the necessary fiscal pact is still valid - that it requires five elements: macroeconomic stability, fairness, quality public spending, transparency and institutionality. Finally, the Executive Secretary announced that the next round of ECLAC sessions to be held in the Dominican Republic in June 2008 would be tackling the issues of external insertion, innovation and public-private association, in order to lay the foundations following Latin America’s recent prosperity.

David Vegara highlighted Latin America's importance in Spain's foreign policy. Vegara praised the excellence of the book's contributions to the debate on sustained and sustainable development, and even in Latin America; firstly for having brought together the leading economists of the region, and secondly for presenting an extraordinary cross-section of the economic and social situation. The Secretary of State spoke of the need to improve the efficiency of taxation and tax collection systems in order for them to be truly progressive.

Enrique Iglesias closed the event by highlighting the importance of this contribution to economic thinking linked with the Ibero-American summits, and expressed his thanks for the work done by CIDOB to promote the efforts within the summits by mobilising the social and economic thinking of the region. Iglesias claimed that the message that comes through in the book is that in Latin America, a social contract is more possible than ever before.

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