In “Left Behind,” Sebastian Edwards explains why Latin America has failed to share in the fruits of globalization and forcefully highlights the dangers of the turn to economic populism in the region.

He begins by detailing the many ways Latin American governments have stifled economic development over the years through excessive regulation, currency manipulation, and thoroughgoing corruption. He discusses the neoliberal reforms of the early 1990s, which called for the elimination of deficits, lowering of trade barriers, and privatization of inefficient public enterprises — and which, Edwards argues, held the promise of freeing Latin America from the burdens of the past, according to a review on goodreads.com.

Flawed implementation, however, meant the promised gains of globalization were never felt by the mass of citizens, and growing frustration with stalled progress has led to a resurgence of populism throughout the region, exemplified by the economic policies of Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez.