Title: The Economic Debacle In Latin America
Headings: The Economic Debacle In Latin America
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The Economic Debacle In Latin America
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Content: The crisis of 2008 and its aftermath reinforced the idea that having central banks pump liquidity into the economy is the only way out. What happened in Chile will fuel the notion that only third-way economic policies, such as the social democracy that exists in much of Europe, are viable in Latin America. My lament is the socialists’ joy. The opposite might happen if the new Brazil continues to liberalize its economy and its government is successful in retaining power. I have visited the country several times and have studied and written about its economic reforms, and it is the only large country that I approach with some optimism. I regard what happened in Brazil as almost a miracle – not an economic but a social and political miracle. So-called economic miracles are the natural outcome of respecting the human right to own private property and to trade and improve on that property. The miracle is how to reach a workable and sustainable consensus among major civil society players to establish the conditions that have, for example, turned Nazi Germany into today’s Germany, or poverty-stricken South Korea into the prosperous Korea of the 21st century. Similar economic policies can turn what was a dysfunctional populist Brazil into the free, orderly and prosperous country that is hoped for by many. The regional impact can be significant, as Brazil represents half of South America in both economy and population.