Latin America: an end to boom and bust? Published by Finance & Development – IMF (2011).
Latin America has long been a region of paradox and contrasts: a land of prosperity and poverty, of independence and dependence, and of stability and instability. But things may be changing. Throwing off its reputation for boom and bust, over the past decade the Latin American region has prospered. Faster and sustained output growth during much of the 2000s was accompanied by important improvements in social conditions. In addition, the region strengthened its economic fundamentals and better prepared itself for economic shocks—so the impact of the recent global crisis was in most cases relatively mild and short-lived when compared with the crushing economic problems it faced during previous episodes of global turbulence. In our cover story, Nicolás Eyzaguirre, the Director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, says that Latin America has the potential to become an increasingly important global player. But boosting productivity and competitiveness remain key policy challenges and the fruits of success must be more broadly shared. Other articles look in particular at prospects for Brazil, inequality in Latin America, and how to raise productivity.
