Aníbal Pinto: a Latin American economist

Aníbal Pinto’s work is at the origin of the structuralist school and of criticism,since the late 1940s, to the dominant paradigm in the academic world of developed countries.The criticism was initially centered on the rejection of the idea that, after Europeanreconstruction ended, multilateral trade and the free convertibility of all currencies wouldguarantee similar rates of prosperity among all the countries that make up this system,poor and rich. A natural corollary of the rejection of this thesis was the strong idea ofindustrialization, with its demands for selective protectionism; infrastructure development;production, including state-owned, of basic inputs; programming and financing of largeinvestments. Such concerns marked the early years of ECLAC and the beginning of thework of Aníbal Pinto, one of the most creative, fruitful and influential Latin Americanstructuralists. JEL Classification: B31; B22.