PHOTO: © ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/HARVEPINO
It’s a good time to talk about Latin America. Markets are again moving in its favor. Commodity prices fell by 3.6 percent in the first week of January, against the lackluster December 2013. But they bounced back by 10.7 percent between January 9 and the end of February to reach a 12-month high.
Countries like Panama, Guyana and Peru continue to chalk up economic growth rates usually associated with Asia. Unemployment rates in January were lower in almost all of the largest economies in the region, and in some cases, like in Brazil and Colombia, they were the lowest they’ve been in the past 12 years.
Companies continue to grow, some of them helped by the strong performance of local markets, but more often due to international acquisitions, or through investments in countries like Paraguay, where investors can obtain cost advantages.
It’s a good time, therefore, to talk about how to convert growth into sustained welfare. The meeting of the World Economic Forum in Panama, at the beginning of April, will reopen this discussion, and Latin Trade wants to have a say there. In the current issue, we invited experts to share their opinions about what countries and companies must do to create societies where more people are employed, wealthier, more innovative and happier.
With the United States, Japan and Europe showing the first signs of economic resurrection, the Latin American moment, characterized by growing investment, low interest rates and weaker corporate multinational competition, could grind to a halt at any time. Not to mention the threat that John Price warns us about in his column in this issue, of the state of municipal finances in China, which could stall worldwide economic growth. The discussion this year should be followed by urgent action. Otherwise, when are we going to get going?
————————————-
We can’t let this moment pass without a heartfelt comment about the situation in Venezuela. Already unsustainable on the economic front, the nation now faces pressures that could seriously affect its social fabric, and which could require decades to repair. No doubt it’s time to rethink which path to follow.
Santiago Gutiérrez,
Executive Editor
sgutierrez@latintrade.com