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The large landholder remains an economic and political force in Latin America today. While his once almost absolute power to control and establish the patterns of the Latin American socioeconomic structure must increasingly be shared with other groups—military, industrial and commercial, not to mention foreign—the degree to which he still influences these nations as they strive for development is of major significance. In this paper an attempt is made to study the latifundista's impact upon the economic development of Latin American countries by the examination of the effect of his income and expenditure patterns on the key determinants of national product—investment, consumption, and foreign trade balances. This approach largely ignores such economic questions as the effects of the latifundista, except by investment, on agricultural production and resource allocation, his impact on economic incentives for others engaged in agriculture, as well as crucial social and political concomitants. These questions, undoubtedly as important as those studied, cannot be ignored in an overall assessment of the effect of latifundismo, and should be borne in mind by readers. That those controlling much of the agricultural wealth may also share in the industrial and commercial wealth of the nation is likely ignored, thus understating the total influence which members of this landed aristocracy actually have on the economy. Nonetheless, the aspects being examined are significant and the conclusions should increase our understanding of problems related to income distribution and the availability of domestic financing for economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]