1901.4.17.–1986.4.29.
Argentine economist whose centre–periphery division and Prebisch–Singer hypothesis laid the basis of dependency theory
Born in Tucumán, Argentina, to German settlers, Prebisch studied and later taught at the University of Buenos Aires. A complete adherent of free trade as a young man, he "converted" to protectionism as a result of the Great Depression. As president of the Central Bank of Argentina he noticed that in the Depression the prices of primary products fell much more than those of manufactures. Appointed executive director of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA or CEPAL) in 1950, he published The Economic Development of Latin America and its Principal Problems that year, dividing the world into an industrial "centre" and a primary-producing "periphery". From 1964 to 1969 he was the founding secretary-general of UNCTAD.
Activities and affiliations
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1950–1969
United NationsExecutive director of ECLA, secretary-general of UNCTADMain
Economy, finance and planning -
Argentina state institutionsPresident of the Central Bank of Argentina
Economy, finance and planning
Career Timeline
- 1950Executive director of CEPAL; The Economic Development of Latin America and its Principal Problems
- 1964–1969Founding secretary-general of UNCTAD