Infrastructure in Latin America: Prospects and Problems in Historical Perspective

William R. Summerhill (History, UCLA) “Infrastructure in Latin America: Prospects and Problems in Historical Perspective”

William Summerhill is Professor of History at UCLA and a leading scholar in economic history of Latin America, with particular emphasis on Brazil. His research focuses on the determinants of long-run political and economic change in the region, exploring, among other topics, the role of infrastructure and financial institutions in economic development. He authored of Inglorious Revolution: Political Institutions, Sovereign Debt, and Financial Underdevelopment in Imperial Brazil (Yale University Press, forthcoming 2015), and Order Against Progress: Government, Foreign Investment, and Railroads in Brazil, 1854-1913 (Stanford University Press, 2003). Summerhill received his PhD in Latin American History from Stanford University in 1995. In this talk, Professor Summerhill will explore the role of infrastructure in Latin America history.

Lunch provided.