The current global recession has cast doubts about the work of macroeconomists, the usefulness of their theories and their capacity to anticipate and deal with crises. This paper discusses that, while incapable of dealing with all the complexities of the

In recent decades, the number of independent central banks has grown steadily. In Chile, autonomy was adopted twenty years ago. This paper discusses the reasons why central bank independence is convenient for the economy, together with the importance of transparency as a complementary feature....

In 2009, the world is facing the worst recession in more than six decades. Chile has been no exception. In spite of this outlook, the Chilean economy stands on solid ground, and recent figures show that the recovery has started. This article discusses the fundamentals of the Chilean economy and...

Using a panel data of innovative Chilean firms, we obtain a private return for R&D expenditure close to 30% during the nineties. Despite the fact of being almost twice the return obtained for physical capital - 17 %, results show that R&D expenditure causes contemporaneous negative impacts over...

An endogenous growth model is presented in which the existence of credit markets affects time allocation of individuals who differ in education abilities. Credit markets allow the more able to specialize in studying and the less able in working. This specialization can increase growth and...

Poverty has declined substantially since 1987 in Chile. Has this reduction in poverty benefited all groups and regions? Are this specific sectors of the economy that have been left out of this reduction? These and other question are discussed in this paper. To do so, we characterize the poor in...