Argentina's difficulties now owe much to Mr Menem's failure to reform public spending. And Mr de la Rua's government could spend more on helping the unemployed of La Matanza if Argentina's party bosses did not stuff public payrolls with their hangers-on. The vices of traditional politics have done even more to limit reform elsewhere. Mr Chavez's rise in Venezuela, for example, owes much to the corruption of the traditional parties that ruled the country for the previous four decades. One reason for the deep-rooted public mistrust which, until now, has blocked privatisation in Ecuador is that some of privatisation's political backers have a long history of using public policies to promote private interests.
Flawed democracy is still far better than no democracy, for economics as well as human rights.
These may play a role, but they cannot explain why some reform attempts succeed. Other analysts stress splits within countries between the modern, internationalised, economy and the large and growing informal sector. All these analyses recognise that reform does not happen in a vacuum. Certain countries, including some in the Andes and Central America, had more vulnerable economies and weaker institutions when reform started. In other words, the right policies are not enough on their own.