When analyzing economic growth in Latin America today many people all to often focus on just growth rates and high rise buildings springing up across the landscape and forget to take a look at some of the issues behind the fancy showpieces. One such issue that really only gets occasional populist lip service is income inequality.
Despite the fact that from Bogota to Santiago there are new five star restaurants, glass covered corporate offices, and vacation packages to Miami and Madrid, these are the signs the economies are indeed growing but are they growing enough for everybody? Although no one can deny that poverty has been reduced in countries such as Colombia and Peru – two of the most recent economic darlings of Latin America – many of its citizens are perched perilously close to the edge of poverty. All it will take would be one little hiccup whether that be a decline in demand of copper from China, a political crisis at home, or a resurgence of armed conflict to cast hundreds of thousands back into the grips of poverty.
For instance in Peru, many have joked the national flag should be changed to incorporate the shovel, as it is this simple instrument that serves as the backbone of Peru’s economy as the mining and agriculture sectors have boomed as well as the domestic construction industry. At the moment Peru is reaping the benefits of its rock (mining) and dirt (agriculture) economy but at what cost. There seems to be very little incentive for education since a good job can be had from the skill set of properly handling a shovel. Other Latin American countries are not much different.
Let us hope that these decades of growth will not be wasted and in the coming years Latin American governments pay more than lip service to income inequality.
Hemipshere Politico 