Chicago Boys

The Chicago Boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and 80s, the majority of whom trained at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, or at its affiliate in the economics department at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Upon their return to Latin America they adopted positions in numerous South American governments as economic advisors, many of them reaching high positions. Supporters credit them with transforming Chile into Latin America's best performing economy and one of the world's most business-friendly jurisdictions. However, critics point to drastic increases in unemployment that can be attributed to policies implemented on their advice to fight inflation. Some (such as Nobel laureate Amartya Sen) have argued that these policies were deliberately intended to serve the interests of American corporations at the expense of Latin American populations.Peter Kornbluh claims that in the case of Chile, American attempts to influence the Chilean economy ceased once the Chicago boys had gained political influence; this may have been the true underlying cause of the subsequent increase in economic growth.

The term "Chicago Boys" has been used at least as early as the 1980s to describe Latin American economists who studied or identified with the libertarian economic theories then taught at the University of Chicago, even though some of them earned degrees at Harvard or MIT (see below). 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 rule. 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.

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