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Did neoliberalism fail in Chile?

Abbreviated Question: 
Did neoliberalism fail in Chile?
Answer: 

My name is Marcelo Oviedo and used to work as Assistant Professor at Iowa State University. My ex-colleagues in the Department of Economics have invited me to answer your questions posted in the Ask An Economist section in that department. I believe they have given me the opportunity of doing that for two reasons. First, because I am a Latin American economist; and second, because I specialize in Macroeconomics and your questions match subjects belonging to two main areas of specialization in Economics: Macroeconomics and Economic Development.

How did the Southern states treatment of Blacks from 1866 to 1960’s affect the economics of the South?

Abbreviated Question: 
How did the Southern states treatment of Blacks from 1866 to 1960’s affect the economics of the South?
Answer: 

Economists and economic historians in particular have been quite interested in the economic impacts of slavery and its aftermath, including the effects of race-based discrimination. There is by now an extremely large and extensive literature of journal articles and books considering aspects of this topic, and I cannot do justice to the breadth and depth of that scholarship here.

How was the decision not to pay down the U.S. debt made post WW2?

Abbreviated Question: 
How was the decision not to pay down the U.S. debt made post WW2?
Answer: 

To begin with, the premise of this question is somewhat mistaken.  As was true in earlier wars, WW II did cause a large expansion of federal government debt both absolutely and relative to GDP.  Indeed, the debt/GDP ratio reached about 94 percent at the end of WW II.  Following the war, however, the burden of debt fell to less than 26 percent of GDP by the mid-1970s.  It has risen since then, but that is a different story.

 

General and economic success of a country

Abbreviated Question: 
General and economic success of a country
Answer: 

Thank you for bringing this rumor to our attention.  First, it would be helpful to understand what you mean by “a country’s success” or “potential”.  I suspect you may be referring to a country’s growth in income (growth in GDP/economic growth) which oftentimes is misconstrued for economic development. 

How did medieval structures get financed?

Abbreviated Question: 
How did medieval structures get financed?
Answer: 

Medieval cathedrals and other structures are indeed impressive works of construction, and to look at them is to marvel at human ingenuity.  Medieval societies were in fact technological quite progressive, a fact documented for example in Joel Mokyr’s history of technology, The Lever of Riches (Oxford 1992).  Technologies for cutting stone, lifting heavy objects and advances in the design of buildings were all developed in ways that enabled these structures to be built.