Chicago Boys
The Chicago Boys were a group of Chilean economists prominent around the 1970s and 1980s, the majority of whom were educated 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. After they finished their studies, and returned to Latin America they adopted positions in numerous South American governments including, prominently, the military dictatorship of Chile (1973–1990), as economic advisors. Many of them reached the highest positions within those governments. While the Heritage Foundation credits them with  transforming Chile into Latin America's best performing economy and one of the world's most business-friendly jurisdictions, critics point to drastic increases in unemployment that can be attributed to counter-inflation policies implemented on their advice.Their policies have been hugely influential, and critical to the foundation of the neoliberal economic policy and ideology. Future neoliberal world leaders like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were influenced by Chile's policies and economic reforms. History. 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 liberal 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. The training program was the result of the "Chile Project" organized in the 1950s by the U.S. State Department, through the Point Four program, the first US program for global economic development. It was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation aimed at influencing Chilean economic thinking. The University of Chicago's Department of Economics set up scholarship programs with Chile's Catholic University. About one hundred select students between 1957 and 1970 received training, first in an apprenticeship program in Chile and then in post-graduate work in Chicago. The project was uneventful  until the early 1970s. The Chicago Boys' ideas remained on the fringes of Chilean economic and political thought, even after a group of them prepared a 189-page "Program for Economic Development" called "El ladrillo" ("the brick"). It was presented in 1969 as part of Jorge Alessandri's unsuccessful presidential candidacy. Alessandri rejected "El ladrillo", but it was revisited after the 1973 Chilean coup d'état on 11 September 1973 brought Augusto Pinochet to power, and it became the basis of the new regime's economic policy. After the coup when the Chicago boys were given power and el ladrillo was  implemented, the Chilean economy began to grow and expand at a rate much higher than that of other similar countries. This was seen as an economic miracle and gave these policies greater credibility worldwide. However, this has led to greater income inequality in Chile which is still an issue that raises concern. These policies were seen as the natural reaction to Marxism and part of Chile's role as a hotspot during the Cold War. The anti-Marxist junta supported radical free market policies promoted by the Chicago Boys as a part of their destruction of Marxism. After the end  of the military rule and return to democracy this specific group lost power and many joined the private sector, although their policies and effects still remained in place in many areas. Even though the Chile Project ended, the training connection between Chile and the University of Chicago continued. One of the numerous networking organizations for alumni, including the Chicago Boys, is the "Latin American Business Group at Chicago Booth School of Business" (LATAM). The term continues to be used in popular culture, business magazines, press and media. In 2015, a Chilean film titled Chicago Boys was released. Shock Doctrine and  Economic Policies. As the key economic advisors of the Pinochet dictatorship, the Chicago Boys were the forerunners of the economic policies of that government. They sponsored state run policies to decrease national spending, end inflation and promote economic growth. They promoted a policy of strict austerity and cut government expenditures substantially. Free trade agreements and the breakdown of barriers to trade were also promoted to help Chile compete in the world market. They also privatized public companies, and utilized the free market rather than government rule to promote their economic policies. This was part of the neoliberal economic views espoused  by Milton Friedman, the ideological backer for their views. Friedman and his connections to the Chicago Boys was highly politicized especially after he received the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1976. The policies are also sometimes referred to as shock therapy based on the fact that they were projected to hurt the economy but overall be beneficial in the long run. These policies influenced future governments and organizations tied to the neoliberal economic viewpoint such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and other International Organizations and governments. However, the relations between these organizations was not always close, and rivalry  between neoliberal organizations still existed. The ideology of free market capitalism and laissez faire economics in conjunction with a strong military rule and total political control is the cornerstone of Pinochetism, in conjunction with a strong anti-communist political platform. These policies and their effects are both highly controversial in Chile and around the World, and represent a major divide in Chilean politics to this day. International Influence. The economic success of the Chicago boys was a critical part of bolstering the Pinochet regime abroad. The Chilean miracle as it was called attracted a lot of necessary positive attention for  the Pinochet government, and allowed Pinochet to exercise political repression without condemnation by economic allies. New policies such as structural adjustment, free trade, and tax cuts became incredibly popular with conservative political groups throughout the western world. These policies eventually spread into the United States and United Kingdom via their conservative leaders. Chile was one of the first countries to embrace these policies and they have since spread in part due to the initial success Chile experienced. Notable Chicago Boys. Chile. Some of them are or were: Elsewhere in Latin America. Although the largest and most influential group of so -called Chicago Boys was Chilean in origin, there were many Latin American graduates from the University of Chicago around the same period. These economists continued to shape the economies of their respective countries, and include people like Mexico's Sócrates Rizzo, Francisco Gil Díaz, Fernando Sanchez Ugarte, Carlos Isoard y Viesca, Argentina's Adolfo Diz, Roque Fernández, Carlos Alfredo Rodríguez, Fernando de Santibañes and Ricardo Lopez Murphy, Brazil's Paulo Guedes, as well as others in Peru, Colombia, Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Panama.