ABSTRACT
Asthetitlesuggests,thefocusofthispaperis moreanalyticthandescriptive.Itsintentisless todescribeindetaillongtermchangesintheaggregatesizeandcompositionofconsumptioninLatin America,thantocausallylinkunderlyingcharacteristicsofLatinAmericanconsumerbehaviortopersistingproblematiquesabouttheLatinAmerican growthprocessusingtheexperiencesofdeveloping countrieselsewheretobuttresstheanalysis.But beforediscussingtheprobl~matiquesasummarydescriptionofthelongtermtrendsinoutputandconsumptionperheadisinorder.
