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{{short description|Chilean economists and political advisors}}
{{economic history of Chile}}
{{Pinochetism sidebar|expanded=history}}
The '''Chicago Boys''' were a group of Chilean [[economics|economists]] prominent around the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of whom were educated at the Department of Economics of the [[University of Chicago]] under Larry Sjaastad, [[Milton Friedman]], and [[Arnold Harberger]], or at its affiliate in the economics department at the [[Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile|Pontifical Catholic University of Chile]]. After they finished their studies and returned to Latin America, they adopted positions in numerous [[South American]] governments, including the [[military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)]], as economic advisors. Many of them reached the highest positions within those governments.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Klein |first=Naomi |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/Pse7S3Q8YYQC |title=The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism |publisher=Macmillan |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8050-7983-8}}</ref> [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[Margaret Thatcher]] were influenced by Chile's policies and economic reforms.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=O'Brien |first1=Philip J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ohV9AAAAMAAJ |title=Chile, the Pinochet Decade: The Rise and Fall of the Chicago Boys |last2=Roddick |first2=Jacqueline |publisher=Latin America Bureau |year=1983 |isbn=0-906156-18-1<!-- 978-0-906156-18-6 --> |location=London |oclc=10830245}}</ref>

==History==
The term "Chicago Boys" has been used at least as early as the 1980s<ref name="GaryBecker">{{cite web|url= http://www.hoover.org/research/what-latin-america-owes-chicago-boys|title= What Latin America Owes to the 'Chicago Boys'|author= Gary S. Becker|work= Hoover Digest|publisher= Stanford University|date= 1997-10-30|access-date= 2012-11-14|archive-date= 2014-11-30|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141130173145/http://www.hoover.org/research/what-latin-america-owes-chicago-boys|url-status= live}}</ref> to describe Latin American economists who studied or identified with the [[liberalism|liberal]] economic theories then taught at the [[University of Chicago]], popularly known as the [[Chicago school of economics]], even though some of them earned degrees at [[Harvard University]] or [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]. They advocated widespread [[deregulation]], [[privatization]], and other [[free market]] policies for closely controlled economies. The Chicago Boys rose to prominence as leaders of the early reforms initiated in Chile during General [[Augusto Pinochet]]'s dictatorship.<ref name="GaryBecker"/> Milton and [[Rose Friedman]] used the term "Chicago Boys" in their memoir: "In 1975, when inflation still raged and a world recession triggered a depression in Chile, General Pinochet turned to the 'Chicago Boys'; he appointed several of them to powerful positions in the government."<ref>''Two Lucky People: Memoirs''. Milton Friedman and Rose D. Friedman. University of Chicago Press, 1998. p. 398.</ref>
 
The training program was the result of the "Chile Project" organized in the 1950s by the [[U.S. State Department]], through the [[Point Four program]], the first US program for global economic development.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Paterson|first=Thomas G.|date=1972|title=Foreign Aid under Wraps: The Point Four Program|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4634774|journal=The Wisconsin Magazine of History|volume=56|issue=2|pages=119–126|jstor=4634774|issn=0043-6534|archive-date=2021-12-21|access-date=2021-12-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211221155407/https://www.jstor.org/stable/4634774|url-status=live}}</ref> It was funded by the [[Ford Foundation]] and the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] aimed at influencing Chilean economic thinking.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Biglaiser|first=Glen|date=2002|title=The Internationalization of Chicago's Economics in Latin America|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24097971|journal=Economic Development and Cultural Change|volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=269–286 |doi=10.1086/322875 |s2cid=144618482 }}</ref> The University of Chicago's Department of Economics set up scholarship programs with Chile's Catholic University. About one hundred select students between 1957 and 1970 received training, first in an apprenticeship program in Chile and then in post-graduate work in Chicago. The most influential of the Chicago faculty members involved was Larry Sjaastad, who helped organize the Latin American Workshop and supervised 139 doctoral dissertations, many from Latin American students,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Clements |first1=Kenneth |last2=Tcha |first2=MoonJoong |date=June 2004 |title=The Larry Sjaastad Letters, I |url=https://ecompapers.biz.uwa.edu.au/paper/PDF%20of%20Discussion%20Papers/2004/04_15_Clements_Tcha_vol.1.pdf |access-date=September 18, 2024 |website=University of Western Australia}}</ref> during his 42-year teaching career at Chicago.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harms |first=William |date=May 9, 2012 |title=Larry Sjaastad, scholar of international economics, 1934–2012 |url=https://news.uchicago.edu/story/larry-sjaastad-scholar-international-economics-1934-2012 |access-date=September 18, 2024 |website=uchicago news |archive-date=September 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240909150927/https://news.uchicago.edu/story/larry-sjaastad-scholar-international-economics-1934-2012 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The project was uneventful until the early 1970s. The Chicago Boys' ideas remained on the fringes of Chilean economic and political thought, even after a group of them prepared a 189-page "Program for Economic Development" called ''[[El ladrillo]]'' ("the brick").<ref>El Ladrillo. Bases de la política económica del gobierno militar chileno.Santiago: CEP 2nd edition1992</ref> It was presented in 1969 as part of [[Jorge Alessandri]]'s unsuccessful presidential candidacy. Alessandri rejected ''El ladrillo'', but it was revisited after the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état]] on 11 September 1973 brought Augusto Pinochet to power, and it became the basis of the new regime's economic policy.

After the coup when the Chicago boys were given power and ''El ladrillo'' was implemented, the Chilean GDP fell by about 15% by 1982 and government spending increased slightly. In addition, this has led to greater income inequality in Chile, which still impacts the country today.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Brender |first=Valerie |date=2010-03-01 |title=Economic Transformations in Chile: The Formation of the Chicago Boys |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/056943451005500112 |journal=The American Economist |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=111–122 |doi=10.1177/056943451005500112 |s2cid=156007531 |issn=0569-4345|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

These policies were seen as the natural reaction to Marxism and part of Chile's role as a hotspot during the Cold War. The anti-Marxist junta supported radical free market policies promoted by the Chicago Boys as a part of their destruction of Marxism.

After the end of the military rule and return to democracy this specific group lost power and many joined the private sector, although their policies and effects still remained in place in many areas.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Maxwell |first1=Kenneth |last2=Valdés |first2=Juan Gabriel |date=1996 |title=Pinochet's Economists: The Chicago School in Chile |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/20047535 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=75 |issue=2 |pages=157 |doi=10.2307/20047535 |jstor=20047535 |issn=0015-7120|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Even though the Chile Project ended, the training connection between Chile and the University of Chicago continued. One of the numerous networking organizations for alumni, including the Chicago Boys, is the "Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business" (LATAM). The term continues to be used in popular culture, business magazines, press and media. In 2015, a Chilean film titled [[Chicago Boys (film)|Chicago Boys]] was released.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123562/|title=Chicago Boys|date=Nov 5, 2015|access-date=Sep 14, 2020|via=IMDb|archive-date=December 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219075215/https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4123562/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/full-time/student-experience/beyond-classroom/groups/labg |title=Latin American Business Group &#124; the University of Chicago Booth School of Business |access-date=2019-01-03 |archive-date=2020-04-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417163252/https://www.chicagobooth.edu/programs/full-time/student-experience/beyond-classroom/groups/labg |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Shock doctrine and economic policies ===
As the key economic advisors of the Pinochet dictatorship, the Chicago Boys were the forerunners of the economic policies of that government. They sponsored state run policies to decrease national spending, end inflation and promote economic growth. They promoted a policy of strict austerity and cut government expenditures substantially. Free trade agreements and the breakdown of barriers to trade were also promoted to help Chile compete in the world market. They also privatized public companies and used the free market rather than government rule to promote their economic policies.<ref name=":1" /> This was part of the neoliberal economic views espoused by Milton Friedman, the ideological backer for their views. Friedman and his connections to the Chicago Boys was highly politicized especially after he received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. The policies are also sometimes referred to as [[Shock_therapy_(economics)|shock therapy]] based on the fact that they were projected to hurt the economy but overall be beneficial in the long run.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Sebastian |last2=Montes |first2=Leonidas |title=Milton Friedman in Chile: Shock Therapy, Economic Freedom, and Exchange Rates |date=2020-02-04 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s1053837219000397 |journal=Journal of the History of Economic Thought |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=105–132 |doi=10.1017/s1053837219000397 |s2cid=214507780 |issn=1053-8372|url-access=subscription }}</ref> These policies influenced future governments and organizations tied to the neoliberal economic viewpoint such as the [[World Bank]], [[International Monetary Fund]], and other International Organizations and governments. However, the relations between these organizations were not always close, and rivalry between neoliberal organizations still existed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kedar |first=Claudia |date=2017-02-03 |title=The International Monetary Fund and the Chilean Chicago Boys, 1973–7: Cold Ties between Warm Ideological Partners |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022009416685895 |journal=Journal of Contemporary History |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=179–201 |doi=10.1177/0022009416685895 |s2cid=164694056 |issn=0022-0094|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The ideology of free market capitalism and laissez faire economics in conjunction with a strong military rule and total political control is the cornerstone of Pinochetism, in conjunction with a strong anti-communist political platform. These policies and their effects are both highly controversial in Chile and around the World and represent a major divide in Chilean politics to this day.<ref name=":2" />

=== International influence ===
The economic success of the Chicago boys was a critical part of bolstering the Pinochet regime abroad. The Chilean miracle as it was called attracted a lot of necessary positive attention for the Pinochet government and allowed Pinochet to exercise political repression without condemnation by economic allies. New policies such as structural adjustment, free trade, and tax cuts became incredibly popular with conservative political groups throughout the western world. These policies eventually spread into the United States and United Kingdom via their conservative leaders. Chile was one of the first countries to embrace these policies and they have since spread in part due to the initial success Chile experienced.<ref name=":0" />

Scholars have since examined the long-term significance of this influence in greater detail. The role of the Chicago Boys in reshaping Chile’s economy during the Pinochet era has been the subject of extensive analysis in economic and historical literature.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Edwards |first=Sebastian |title=The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism |date=2023 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-20862-6}}</ref> Educated at the University of Chicago under economists such as Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, the group implemented market-based reforms aimed at controlling inflation, transferring public enterprises to private ownership, liberalizing trade, and reducing the public sector. These reforms significantly altered Chile’s economic structure and became an influential case study for neoliberal economic policy. Supporters credit the reforms with stabilizing the economy and fostering long-term growth, while critics argue they increased inequality and were carried out under a government with limited political freedoms. Scholars such as Sebastian Edwards and Johan Van Overtveldt have examined the long-term implications of this period, noting both its economic outcomes and the political context in which reforms were enacted.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Van Overtveldt |first=Johan |title=The Chicago School: How the University of Chicago Assembled the Thinkers Who Revolutionized Economics and Business |date=2007 |publisher=Agate Publishing |isbn=9781932841145}}</ref> The Chicago Boys are frequently cited as a case of the international application of Chicago School economic ideas.

==Notable Chicago Boys==
===Chile===
Some of them are or were:
{{div col}}
*[[Jorge Cauas]], Minister of Finance, 1975–1977.
*[[Sergio de Castro (economist)|Sergio de Castro]], Minister of Finance, 1977–1982.
*[[Pablo Baraona]], Minister of Economy, 1976–1979.
*[[José Piñera]], Minister of Labor and Pensions, 1978–1980; Minister of Mining, 1980–1981. (Received M.A. and Ph.D. Economics at [[Harvard]].)
*[[Hernán Büchi]], Minister of Finance, 1985–1989. (Received MBA at [[Columbia University]].)
*[[Alvaro Bardón]], President of the Central Bank of Chile; Minister of Economy, 1982–1983.
*[[Juan Carlos Méndez]], Budget Director, 1975–1981.
*[[Emilio Sanfuentes]], Economic advisor to Central Bank of Chile.
*[[Sergio de la Cuadra]], President of the Central Bank of Chile; Minister of Finance, 1982.
*[[Rolf Lüders]], (Minister of Economy, 1982; Minister of Finance, 1982–83)
*[[Francisco Rosende]], Research Manager, Central Bank of Chile, 1985 and 1990; Antitrust Commission, 1999 and 2001; Dean and Professor of Economics, Faculty of Business and Economy of PUC, 1995–present.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/24 |title=Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business (Latam Group) Speaker Profile |access-date=2014-01-26 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151222092930/http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/24 |archive-date=December 22, 2015 }}</ref>
*[[Miguel Kast]], Minister of Planning, 1978–1980; Labor Minister, 1980–1982; Governor of the Central Bank of Chile, 1982–83.
*[[Martín Costabal]], Budget Director, 1987–1989.
*[[Juan Ariztía Matte]], Pension Superintendent, 1980–1990.
*[[Maria Teresa Infante]], Minister of Labor, 1988–1990.
*[[Camilo Carrasco Alfonso]], General Manager of Central Bank, 1994–2005.
*[[Joaquín Lavín]], Minister of Education, 2010–2011; Minister of Planning, 2011–2013; Mayor of [[Las Condes]], 2016–2021
*[[Cristián Larroulet|Cristián Larroulet Vignau]], Chief of Staff of the Finance Minister; member of National Commission for Privatization; Head of Antitrust Commission; Minister of General Secretariat to the Presidency, [SEGPRES] 2010–present; executive director at Libertad y Desarrollo, a private think tank; Dean and Professor of Economics; Faculty of Business and Economy at Universidad Del Desarrollo (UDD), Santiago, Chile; member of the boards of several public enterprises; member of the [[Mont Pelerin Society]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/23 |title=Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business (Latam Group) Speaker Profile |access-date=2014-01-26 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117172315/http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/23 |archive-date=November 17, 2010 }}</ref>
*[[Juan Andrés Fontaine Talavera|Juan Andrés Fontaine]], Minister of Economy, 2010–2011.
*[[Francisco Perez Mackenna]], chief executive officer of [[Quinenco]], one of Chile's largest conglomerates, with assets of over US$33.1 billion 1998–present; Director of many Quinenco group companies, including Banco de Chile, Madeco, CCU, Inversiones y Rentas, LQIF, ECUSA, CCU Argentina and Banchile Corretores de Bolsa, and Advisor to the Board of Vina San Pedro Tarapaca; CEO of CCU, 1991–1998. (Received Business Administration degree from Universidad Catolica de Chile and M.B.A. from University of Chicago.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/41 |title=Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business (Latam Group) Speaker Profile |access-date=2014-01-26 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101117172551/http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/41 |archive-date=November 17, 2010 }}</ref>
*[[Ernesto Fontaine]], professor, Faculty of Economics and Administration, [[Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile]]; returned to Chile financed by the [[Inter American Development Bank]], 1976; chief of the "external financing unit", the Organization of American States (OAS), where he organized a Technical Assistance Program that trained teams of public officials in Project Preparation and Social Evaluation;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/2 |title=Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business (Latam Group) Speaker Profile |access-date=2014-01-26 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222023803/http://www.labgbooth.org/conference/speakers/2 |archive-date=February 22, 2014 }}</ref> World Bank consultant, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); died January 20, 2014, of lung cancer.
*[[Ricardo Ffrench-Davis]], called a "heterodox Chicago Boy"<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Chicago Boys en Chile: neoliberalismo, saber experto y el auge de una nueva tecnocracia|journal=Revista mexicana de ciencias políticas y sociales|last=Rumié Rojo|first=Sebastián Andrés|volume=64|issue=235|doi=10.22201/fcpys.2448492xe.2019.235.61782|year=2019|language=Spanish|trans-title=Chicago Boys in Chile: Neoliberalism, Expert Knowledge, and the Rise of a New Technocracy|doi-access=free|hdl=1887/3152421|hdl-access=free}}</ref> and an "anti Chicago Boy".<ref>{{Cite news|title=Ricardo Ffrench-Davis, el anti Chicago Boy|url=https://www.americaeconomia.com/economia-mercados/finanzas/ricardo-ffrench-davis-el-anti-chicago-boy|last=Bravo Pou|first=Ximena|date=2014-05-26|access-date=2022-02-13|work=[[América Economía]]|language=Spanish|archive-date=2022-02-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217223647/https://www.americaeconomia.com/economia-mercados/finanzas/ricardo-ffrench-davis-el-anti-chicago-boy|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{div col end}}

===Elsewhere in Latin America===
Although the largest and most influential group of so-called Chicago Boys was Chilean in origin, there were many [[Latin America]]n graduates from the University of Chicago around the same period. These economists continued to shape the economies of their respective countries, and include people like [[Mexico]]'s [[Sócrates Rizzo]], [[Francisco Gil Díaz]], [[Fernando Sanchez Ugarte]], [[Carlos Isoard y Viesca]], [[Argentina]]'s [[Ruben D. Almonacid]], [[Adolfo Diz]], [[Roque Fernández]], [[Carlos Alfredo Rodríguez]], Fernando de Santibañes and [[Ricardo Lopez Murphy]], [[Brazil]]'s [[Paulo Guedes]], as well as others in [[Peru]], [[Colombia]], [[Uruguay]], [[Costa Rica]], and [[Panama]].

==See also==
*[[Miracle of Chile]]
*[[Berkeley Mafia]] in Indonesia
*[[Rolex 12]] in the Philippines
*[[Jeffrey Sachs]]
*[[John Perkins (author)|John Perkins]]
*[[Augusto Pinochet]]
**[[Pinochetism]]
*[[Universidad del Desarrollo]]
*''[[The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|The Shock Doctrine]]''

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Edwards, Sebastian (2025), ''The Chile Project: The Story of the Chicago Boys and the Downfall of Neoliberalism'', Princeton, Princeton University Press. {{ISBN|9780691249377}}.
*Valdés, Juan Gabriel (1995), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=11ygvsWmZk0C&dq=Pinochet's%20economists&pg=PP1 Pinochet's Economists: The Chicago School of Economics in Chile]'', Cambridge, [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-45146-9}}
*[[Pamela Constable|Constable, Pamela]], and [[Arturo Valenzuela]] (1991), ''A Nation Of Enemies: Chile Under Pinochet'', New York, [[W.W. Norton]]. {{ISBN|9780393309850}}
*Fontaine Aldunate, Arturo (1988), "Los Economistas y el Presidente Pinochet", Zig Zag.

==External links==
*[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/905-the-chicago-boys-part-i/id290783428?i=1000434643951 NPR Planet Money - The Chicago Boys Pt. 1]
*[https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?i=1000434812395  NPR Planet Money - The Chicago Boys Pt. 2]
*[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/shared/video/qt/mini_p02_07_300.html PBS Video clip – Chicago Boys and Pinochet]
*[http://dollarsandsense.org/archives/2004/0904cypher.html Is Chile a Neoliberal Success?] analysis of Chicago Boys' policies in [[Dollars & Sense]] magazine 2004
*[https://www.forbes.com/2010/03/16/latin-america-hernan-buchi-opinions-book-review-silvia-santacruz.html Forbes Magazine article 2010-3-17]
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4659772 Audio clip – 'Chicago Boys' Leave Lasting Legacy on Chile's Economy, National Public Radio]

{{1973 Chilean coup d'état}}
{{Augusto Pinochet}}
{{Economy of Chile}}

[[Category:1970s in Chile]]
[[Category:1980s in Chile]]
[[Category:Economic history of Chile]]
[[Category:Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990)]]
[[Category:Milton Friedman]]
[[Category:Neoliberalism]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:Chile–United States relations]]
[[Category:20th-century Chilean economists]]
[[Category:Chicago School economists]]