CEPAL, the International Monetary Fund of the Left?

In 1970, economist Aníbal Pinto lamented the tendency to see his institution, the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA in English and CEPAL in Spanish and Portuguese) as “some sort of International Monetary Fund of the left.” While the IMF represented the interests of the global North and the priority of monetary stability over economic development, cepalinos embodied the voice of the periphery and the precedence of development over stability. This paper traces the interrelated history of cepalinos and the IMF staff during the Bretton Woods era, showing convergence and the influence of each institution in defining the other’s policy and political agenda. Rather than IMF triumph and domination, this paper tells a story of frustration and accommodation to cepalinos and their ideas. By showing that the term “monetarism” emerged as result of these institutional tensions in Latin America, the paper begins to engage historically and critically with what is vaguely called “neoliberalism.”