THE DANGER OF POPULISM MACROECONOMIC POPULISM IN LATIN

In recent decades, populism has regained prominence in Latin America. It is expressed in forms of government from left or right as it happens in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez and Alvaro Uribe in Colombia, as well as in mobilization of some sectors of the population. This ambiguous concept takes on different meanings. From the economic point of view, macroeconomic populism emphasizes growth through redistributive policies in the short term to increase consumption, neglecting macroeconomic balance, especially with regard to inflation and fiscal deficit. This paper argues that macroeconomic populism is not new and has been applied in Latin America repeatedly. With some differences and at different times of economic history, the governments of Ar-gentina, Chile, Peru and Venezuela, have resorted to the use of fiscal, monetary and credit expansive policies and overvaluation of the currency to accelerate growth and redistribute income. When applied there are concerns about fiscal and exchange restrictions. Revista Republicana ISSN: 1909- 4450 • núm. 9 The result is an uncontrollable inflation and an economic crisis, which may explain the instability and hyperinflation that Latin America has experienced. Colombia, curiously, throughout its history, is an exception to this rule, due to the indepen-dence of the institutions that manage monetary policy and the barriers that implies for the executive. Key words: populism, populist macro-economic, fiscal policy, monetary policy, economic policy, hyperinflation, classic hyperinflation, inflation, macroeconomic populism phases, stability, Latin America