Gallagher in NYT: Red Tape in Latin America
Kevin Gallagher, Professor of Global Development Policy at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, said that red tape in Latin America acted as a check on China’s ambitious railroad development plans – unlike similar projects in Africa, which can proceed with fewer administrative roadblocks.
Gallagher contributed his insights to an Oct. 3 article on the subject in the New York Times entitled “China’s Ambitious Rail Projects Crash into Harsh Realities in Latin America.”
From the text of the article:
With Brazil’s economy ailing, some powerful officials are signaling that they may be willing to accept China’s proposal, while also suggesting that the railway could be pursued with a less ambitious, piecemeal approach.
“The Twin-Ocean Railway could be done in parts,” Nelson Barbosa, Brazil’s planning minister, said in testimony before the Senate, emphasizing in particular two stretches where farming groups have clamored for railroads.
Kevin Gallagher said the railway ranks among the largest infrastructure projects in Latin America in the last century.
“China will have to race up the learning curve for this to succeed,” he said. “If the Chinese can’t make this happen, then no one can.”
You can read the entire article here.
Gallagher also co-directs the Global Economic Governance Initiative and the Global Development Policy Program. Learn more about him here.