Economics
Latin America: No More Pennies From Heaven
The economies of Latin America (LatAm) have fallen on hard times. After almost a decade of positive growth, the favorable external conditions are disappearing and prospects for growth seem grim. The IMF projection for 2015 is just 0.9%, the lowest growth rate since 2002, with the exception of 2009, the year of the Great Recession.…
Economics
Crisis in Greece: Updated Summary
Greece is still in the news. Not surprising, since the European Union (EU) has never had such a huge problem as this with a member country. I've written a lot on the subject already and don't want to belabor the point. But I'll try to summarize here (data from Eurostat in billions of euros). Background.…
Economics
Keynes on Pessimism
We all know that we as human beings have a hard time separating ourselves from the present situation. If we are in a crisis, we think the tough times will last for years, and the contrary if we are in an economic boom. The opinions of experts, institutes and others reflect that behavior: most of…