Latin America
Back to homepage
Chile Minister of Economy, Development, and Tourism José Ramón Valente: Escaping the Middle-Income Trap
Early in November, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) paid homage to Chile’s economic resilience and progress. It lavished praise on the country for its willingness to embrace the structural reforms with which the administration of Chilean President Sebastián Piñera aims
Read More
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Young Congresswoman Refuses to Play Nice
It takes the gumption of a hero to identify as a socialist in the United States, and something of a miracle to get elected to public office under a red banner. But that is what 29-year old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has
Read More
Book Review: The Neighborhood by Mario Vargas Llosa
Missed Opportunity These are not the best of times for Peruvian novelist and Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa. A liberal on continent mostly ruled by demagogues who pay lip service to whatever ideology is in vogue, the writer has sought
Read More
EY: Argentina – Aspects of the Labour & Social Security Reform
A labour and social security reform bill has been recently sent to the Argentine Congress. In general, proposed amendments represent material changes to current regulations and introduce new concepts. Although the government has the support of the main labour unions,
Read More
Otaviano Canuto & Matheus Cavallari, World Bank: Bloated Central Bank Balance Sheets
Central banks of large advanced and many emerging market economies have recently gone through a period of extraordinary expansion of their balance sheets and are all now possibly facing a transition to less abnormal times. However, the fact that one
Read More
Ernst & Young: Argentina – New Government Measures to Improve and Strengthen Employment
Argentine payroll costs are the highest in Latin America, standing at a maximum of 40%. Social security and health care employer contributions amount to 23% or 27%, based on each employer, whereas contributions withheld from employees stand at 17%. In
Read More
Evan Harvey, Nasdaq: A Short-Term Look at Long-Term Growth – The Expert Outlook on 2017
Given the rapidly changing state of our global economic and political picture, it can be daunting to integrate sustainability strategies into business practices. This has ever been the case, but perhaps the tension between short-term deliverables and longer-term principles is
Read More
IFC: Addressing Climate Change Can Unlock $23 Trillion-Dollar Investment Opportunities in Emerging Markets
By Christian Grossmann and Thomas Kerr The historic Paris climate change agreement entered into force in record speed last November, committing countries to a decarbonized future. This means that new markets for climate-smart investments are set to grow, as governments
Read More
Otaviano Canuto, World Bank: What’s Ailing the Brazilian Economy?
Brazil’s GDP is poised to decline by close to 7% in 2015-2016. Per capita GDP in 2016 is likely to shrink by more than 10% as compared to three years ago. We argue here that a double malaise has been
Read More
Venezuela: As the Economy Sinks, Bond Markets Take Heart
The country may be unable to buy food or medicine; Venezuela continues to meet with clockwork precision all its obligations to bondholders. Struggling with triple-digit inflation and deploying the army to supress food riots, the monumentally inept government of President
Read More