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Research Interests


The economic development of Latin America and East Asia and their integration within the World Economy. In particular, the study of these economies from the point of view of their economic history, macroeconomics, international trade and international finance.

Recent Publications


Published Papers

Palma, J. G. América Latina en su “Momento Gramsciano”. Las limitaciones de una salida tipo “nueva socialdemocracia europea” a este impasse, El Trimestre Económico vol 87(348) (2020) pp. 985-1031
Palma, J. G. Behind the Seven Veils of Inequality. What if it’s all about the Struggle within just One Half of the Population over just One Half of the National Income?, Development and Change vol 50(5) (2019) pp. 1133-1213
Palma, J. G. Desindustrialización, desindustrialización "prematura" y "síndrome holandés", El Trimestre Económico vol 86(344) (2019)
Palma, J. G. Por qué la economía ortodoxa transfirió su obsesión por un concepto (mercado) a un ritual (matemáticas), Revista Estudios Nueva Economía (ENE) vol 5(1) (2018)
Palma, J. G. ¿Neo-liberalismo o neo-parasitismo?, Estado y Políticas Públicas no. 8 (2017)
Palma, J. G. ¿Qué hacer con nuestro modelo neo-liberal, con tan poca entropía? Chile vs. Corea: asimetrías productivas y distributivas, Perfiles Económicos no. 2 (2016)
Palma, J. G. Why corporations in developing countries are likely to be even more susceptible to the vicissitudes of international finance than their counterparts in the developed world: A Tribute to Ajit Singh, Economic and Labour Relations Review vol 27(3) (2016)
Palma, J. G. Has the Income Share of the Middle and Upper-middle Been Stable around the '50/50 Rule', or has it Converged towards that Level? The 'Palma Ratio' Revisited, Development and Change vol 45(6) (2014) pp. 1416-1448
Palma, J. G. How to create a financial crisisby trying to avoid one: the Brazilian 1999-financial collapse as "Macho-Monetarism" can't handle "Bubble Thy Neighbour" levels of inflows, Brazilian Journal of Political Economy (2014)
Palma, J. G. Financial liberalisation and financial crises in developing countries’ (in Chinese), Journal of Latin America Studies (2013)
Palma, J. G. Homogeneous middles vs. heterogeneous tails, and the end of the 'inverted-U': It's all about the share of the rich., Development and Change vol 42(1) (2011) pp. 87-153
Blankenburg, S. and Palma, J. G. Introduction: the global financial crisis, Cambridge Journal of Economics vol 33(4) (2009) pp. 531-538
Palma, J. G. The revenge of the market on the rentiers. Why neo-liberal reports of the end of history turned out to be premature, Cambridge Journal of Economics vol 33(4) (2009) pp. 829-869

Cambridge Working Papers in Economics

Palma, J. G. How Latin America Sinks into the Quicksand of Inertia: on getting bogged down between a fading “extractivist” model and more productivity-enhancing alternatives that just can't generate enough credibility ―while populism looks for magical solutions... , (2023) CWPE2380
Palma, J. G. Ricardo was surely right: the abundance of “easy” rents leads to greedy and lazy elites., (2023) CWPE2326
Palma, J. G., Pincus, J. Is Southeast Asia falling into a Latin American style “middle-income trap”?, (2022) CWPE2267
Palma, J. G. Financialisation as a (it’s-not-meant-to-make-sense) gigantic global joke, (2022) CWPE2211
Palma, J. G. Why the Rich Stay Rich. On dysfunctional institutions’ “ability to persist” (no matter what), (2020) CWPE20124
Palma, J. G. Finance as Perpetual Orgy How the ‘new alchemists’ twisted Kindleberger’s cycle of “manias, panics and crashes” into “manias, panics and renewed manias”, (2020) CWPE2094
Palma, J. G. Why is inequality so unequal across the world? Part 2 The diversity of inequality in market income ─ and the increasing asymmetry between the distribution of income before and after taxes and transferences, (2019) CWPE19100
Palma, J. G. Why is inequality so unequal across the world? Part 1. The diversity of inequality in disposable income: multiplicity of fundamentals, or complex interactions between political settlements and market failures?, (2019) CWPE1999
Palma, J. G. The Chilean economy since the return to democracy in 1990. On how to get an emerging economy growing, and then sink slowly into the quicksand of a “middle-income trap”, (2019) CWPE1991
Palma, J. G. Do nations just get the inequality they deserve? The 'Palma Ratio' re-examined, (2016) CWPE1627
Palma, J. G. Why corporations in developing countries are likely to be even more susceptible to the vicissitudes of international finance than their counterparts in the developed world: A Tribute to Ajit Singh, (2015) CWPE1539
Palma, J. G. Has the income share of the middle and upper-middle been stable over time, or is its current homogeneity across the world the outcome of a process of convergence? The 'Palma Ratio' revisited , (2014) CWPE1437
Palma, J. G. Latin America's social imagination since 1950. From one type of 'absolute certainties' to another - with no (far more creative)'uncomfortable uncertainties' in sight,, (2014) CWPE1416
Palma, J. G. How to create a financial crisis by trying to avoid one: the Brazilian 1999-financial collapse as "Macho-Monetarism" can't handle "Bubble Thy Neighbour" levels of inflows, (2013) CWPE1301
Palma, J. G. Was Brazil's recent growth acceleration the world's most overrated boom?, (2012) CWPE1248
Palma, J. G. How the full opening of the capital account to highly liquid financial markets led Latin America to two and a half cycles of ‘mania, panic and crash’, (2012) CWPE1201
Palma, J. G. Homogeneous middles vs. heterogeneous tails, and the end of the ‘Inverted-U’: the share of the rich is what it’s all about, (2011) CWPE1111
Palma, J. G. Why has productivity growth stagnated in most Latin-American countries since the neo-liberal reforms? (Revised 26-07-2011), (2010) CWPE1030
Palma, J. G. The Revenge of the Market on the Rentiers: Why neo-liberal Reports of the end of history turned out to be premature, (2009) CWPE0927

Chapter in Book

Palma, J. G. The Chilean economy since the return to democracy in 1990. On how to get an emerging economy growing, and then sink slowly into the quicksand of a “middle-income trap”, (2020) in the book: A New Economic History of Chile - Cambridge University Press
Palma, J. G. How does Europe manage to achieve a relatively low and homogenous level of inequality in spite of a broad diversity of fundamentals?, (2019) in the book: Cherishing All Equally 2019: Inequality in Europe and Ireland - FESP
Palma, J. G. The multiplicity of distributional outcomes across the world: Diversities of fundamentals or countries getting the inequality they deserve?, (2018) in the book: Handbook of Globalisation - Edward Elgar
Palma, J. G. Is the share of the rich what it’s all about? The ‘Palma Ratio’ and the diversity of inequality across the world, (2017) in the book: Conocimiento para la equidad social: pensando Chile globalmente, Colección Políticas Públicas - USACH
Palma, J. G. Do nations just get the inequality they deserve? The ‘Palma Ratio’ re-examined’, paper presented at the Plenary Session “Shared Prosperity and Growth” of the 17th World Congress of the International Economic Association (IEA), June 2014, published (including Stiglitz’s comments made at the IEA Congr, (2016) in the book: Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy - New Palgrave
Palma, J. G. Why Latin America’s critical thinking switched from one type of 'absolute certainties to another’, (2016) in the book: The Handbook of Alternative Theories of Economic Development - Elgar
Palma, J. G. De-industrialisation, premature de-industrialisation and a new concept of the Dutch disease, (2013) in the book: Radiografía crítica al ‘modelo chileno (A Critical X-ray of the ‘Chilean Model) - Editorial LOM
Palma, J. G. How the full opening of the capital account to highly liquid financial markets led Latin America to two and a half cycles of "mania, panic and crash", (2012) in the book: The handbook of the political economy of financial crises - Oxford University Press
Palma, J. G. Why has productivity growth stagnated in most Latin American countries since the neo-liberal reforms?, (2011) in the book: The Oxford Handbook of Latin American Economics - Oxford University Press
Palma, J. G. and Blankenburg, S. Economic development in Post Keynesian economics, (2011) in the book: The Elgar Companion to Post Keynesian Economics - Edward Elgar Publishing
Palma, J. G. How financial liberalisation led in the 1990s to three different cycles of ‘manias, panics and crashes’ in middle-income countries?, (2010) in the book: Capital without Borders: Challenges to Development - Anthem Press
Palma, J.G. How financial liberalization led in the 1990s to three different cycles of 'manias, panics and crashes' in middle-income countries, (2010) in the book: Capital without borders: challenges to development - Anthem Press
Palma, J. G. Flying-geese and waddling-ducks: the different capabilities of East Asia and Latin America to 'demand-adapt' and 'supply-upgrade' their export productive capacity, (2009) in the book: Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation - Oxford University Press
Palma, J. G. On the discreet charm of the (rentier) bourgeoisie: the contradictory nature of the installation period of a new techno-economic paradigm, (2009) in the book: Techno-Economic Paradigms: Essays in Honour of Carlota Perez - Anthem
Palma, J. G. Why Did the Latin American Critical Tradition in the Social Sciences Become Practically Extinct?, (2009) in the book: The Handbook of International Political Economy - Routledge
Palma, J. G. Flying-geese and waddling-ducks: the different capabilities of East Asia and Latin America to ‘demand-adapt’ and ‘supply-upgrade’ their export productive capacity, (2009) in the book: Industrial Policy and Development: The Political Economy of Capabilities Accumulation - Oxford University Press
Palma, J. G. Drei Muster internationaler Finanzkrisen: Chile, Mexiko and Argentina – Brasilien – Korea, (2008) in the book: Asienkrise: Lektionen gelernt? - VSA: Verlag Hamburg
Palma, J. G. The 1999 Brazilian financial crisis, (2008) in the book: Globalization: the Latin American Experience - The Icfai University Press
Palma, J. G. and Ocampo, J. A. The Role of Preventative Capital Account Regulations: Price Based vs. Quantity Based Interventions’, (2008) in the book: Capital Market Liberalization and Development - Oxford University Press
Palma, J. G. Growth after Globalisation: a Structuralist-Kaldorian game of musical chairs?, (2008) in the book: Growth Divergences. Explaining Differences in Economic Performance - Zed Books Ltd., and Bokkluben
Palma, J. G., Blankenburg, S. and Tregenna, F. Entry on ‘Structuralism’, (2008) in the book: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics - 2nd edition, Palgrave Macmillan
Palma, J. G. Entries on ‘De-industrialisation, premature de-industrialisation and the Dutch disease’, ‘Raúl Prebisch’, ‘Carlos Díaz-Alejandro’, and ‘Dependency Theory', (2008) in the book: The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics - 2nd edition, Palgrave Macmillan

Recent Activities


Amartya Sen Lecture, HDCA Conference - Video
Dr. José Gabriel Palma, who retired from his Senior Lectureship in the Faculty in 2014, delivered the "Amartya Sen Lecture" at this years Human Development and Capability Association Conference in New Zealand (Online). The title of his lecture was "What Went Wrong With European Social Democracy: On Building a Debilitating Capitalism, Where Even the Welfare State Subsidises Greater Market Inequality".
Published on - Tuesday 30th June 2020

Human Development and Capability Association Conference 2020
Dr. José Gabriel Palma has been invited to give the Amartya Sen lecture at the 2020 Human Development and Capability Association Conference (HDCA), on 1st July 2020", Auckland, New Zealand.
Published on - Thursday 30th April 2020

The Washington Post explains the 'Palma ratio', a new way of measuring income inequality.
The Washington Post explains why many development experts have come to prefer something now called the Palma ratio as a measurement of inequality. The ratio is named after José Gabriel Palma.
Published on - Monday 21st October 2013

Dr Jose Gabriel Palma













Emeritus Senior Lecturer

Research Group:
Alternative approaches to economics, history of economic thought, and methodology

CV: Curriculum Vitae


Contact Details
Email: jgp5@cam.ac.uk



       

      Watch Dr. José Gabriel Palma give the Amartya Sen Keynote Lecture at the 2020 HDCA Conference