Exceptional Argentina Di Tella, Glaeser and Llach - Thomas Piketty

These differences suggest that there is no magic ingredient for Chilean success. The features of
the Chilean system were common ideas among progressive reformers during the early 20 th
century. The key question is why Chile adopted such reforms, while Argentina did not, and that
must lead us back to politics.
The paper identifies Carlos Ibáñez with creating police reforms in Chile that last until this day.
Ibáñez was a former head of a gendarmerie and for him a strong national police became a tool of
his authority. By centralizing control over the police, he lessened the possibility of independent
action against his regime.
While Juan Perón may have wanted to centralize authority, he doesn’t seem to have had the
capacity to do so. Argentina’s Federalist structure limited the ability to centralize control. He
perhaps lacked Ibáñez’ overall authority. Moreover, his poorer constituents may have been less
enthusiastic about an overly empowered police force. Since then the more durable Chilean
governments have often been willing to invest in long run support for the police than the more
unstable Argentine governments. Argentina’s 20 th century political problems seem to have hurt
the quality of the public sector as well as economic success.