Friedrich List and the Economic Fate of Tropical Countries

The goal of the paper is twofold. It examines how Friedrich List's interpretation of the economic dynamics of “tropical” countries as non-industrial economies exporters of primary commodities fits in his overall analytical framework and accords with his emphasis on the explanatory value of environmental factors and on the role of colonialism in the development of the “temperate” nations. This is followed by a selective investigation of the reception of List's ideas in some Latin American countries (particularly Brazil) between late 19th and mid 20th centuries, as an attempt to establish whether List's readers in those countries took any notice of List's point that the infant-industry argument did not apply to "tropical" areas and that such economies should not embark on an industrialization process