Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean has been disappointing. For commodity exporters, the exceptional 2002-2012 boom boosted investment and relaxed fiscal constraints, but many countries made little progress on improving underlying productivity and their medium-term growth potential. In other countries, particularly some in the Caribbean and Central America, negative … [Read more...] about Boosting Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean
#inequality
Minimum Wages and the Fight Against Inequality
Many policymakers say minimum wage hikes are crucial to reducing inequality. They look at Latin America and see abundant evidence, including the fact that in various countries large minimum wage increases during the commodity boom of the 2000s coincided with large inequality declines. There is certainly some truth to the idea. Minimum wage increases during times of strong … [Read more...] about Minimum Wages and the Fight Against Inequality
When Less Informality Means Less Inequality
To work in the informal sector, as roughly half of Latin Americans do, is to labor in the shadows. It often means working for firms that neither register with authorities, pay taxes or abide by labor regulations. It is to be deprived of health insurance and contributory pensions. And it generally means limited career advancement, as most firms employing informal workers do … [Read more...] about When Less Informality Means Less Inequality
How Political Polarization Holds Latin America Back
There are countries where there is a great deal of consensus on issues of national importance, and countries where that consensus is lacking, where the population is divided, distrustful of political opponents, and unwilling to compromise. The latter are polarized societies, and their cleavages lead to worse outcomes in a whole gamut of areas, ranging from greater insecurity … [Read more...] about How Political Polarization Holds Latin America Back
When Politics Distorts Tax Reform
The voters of the United States will ultimately weigh in on the wisdom of the large $1.5 trillion tax cuts headed for a final vote before the end of the year in the U.S. Congress. They will make it clear in the November 2018 legislative elections whether they believe that steep reductions in corporate taxes and income taxes for the wealthy are a sound investment in economic … [Read more...] about When Politics Distorts Tax Reform