Latin American Economy Will Do Well, but Not Great
Latin American Current Events, News & Affairs - Andres Oppenheimer
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The news that Brazil and Mexico have come out of the recession and are poised for solid growth in 2010 should be celebrated, and both countries' leaders should be given credit for their sound economic management.
But in the global context, the two Latin American giants' recovery will be modest.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio
``We are tired of being the country of the future,'' Lula said. ``The 21st century is the Brazilian century.''
Almost simultaneously, Mexican President
Calderón noted that Mexico's economy grew by 2.7 percent in the third quarter this year. ``This is good news because it means the end of the recession,'' he said.
PROJECTED GROWTH
Most international financial institutions and independent economists agree that Brazil will grow by about 4.2 percent next year and
But what do the new forecasts tell us about Brazil, Mexico and Latin America's long-term growth? I'm afraid that, while this is good news, it pales in comparison with the growth rates that we are likely to see in
Consider some other data that was released in recent days:
-- A new study by the
More interestingly, the study by
--
While
-- When one looks at the number of patents registered by country of origin at the U.S. patents registry -- a key indicator for inventions that will flood world markets in coming years --
AN IDEA DEFICIT
A study by World Bank Latin America poverty reduction chief
By comparison, it granted only 840 patents to residents of
To put it in perspective,
THE KEY TO GROWTH
My conclusion:
But unless they focus their energies on improving their education systems to become more competitive and increase their share of world trade, they will not break away from the mediocrity of their recent past. It's time for them to focus on the issues that will make them grow big time in the future.
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