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Why Is South America In Turmoil? An Overview

By María Victoria Murillo

A broad look at how we got here, from the director of the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University.

Whereas today South America appears to be unraveling, a decade ago its future seemed bright. Its economy was growing whereas poverty and income inequality were in decline. The abundance brought by high commodity prices even allowed counter-cyclical policies at the time of the US subprime crisis. Yet, its current difficulties can be traced to that hopeful recent past.

The new millennium brought to the region a combination of rapid economic growth along with socioeconomic and cultural redistribution, but without resolving its endemic institutional weakness. As the pie stopped...

Read this article on the Americas Quarterly website. | Subscribe to AQ.

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