Recently, it seems increasingly more common to hear news about Latin America on TV, radio, and other MassMedias. We used to think about South American countries as ones that lag far behind flourishing America, surpassing China, and "always in shape" European countries. But current rankings change our minds. The top 50 countries with the highest index of globalization include Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Since 2007 Venezuala, Colombia, and Peru are growing their economies by over 8% per annum.Increased prices for copper boosts the Chilean economy, which now occupies the leading position among Latin American countries considering Gross National Income.
International pressures and domestic policy reforms affected Latin America's involvement in the world trade and international investments flows. Nowadays, it playes an important role in the global competitive mode. Acception of free market policy has played a key role in its developement. International corporations such as the World Bank Group serves 30 Latin American Countries and has different strategies for meeting diverse and sophisticated needs in every region. In Chile, for example, the Bank supports the key areas—education, social protection, and innovation—that are part of the country’s overall strategy to ensure high growth with equity. In Bolivia, Haiti, and Honduras, low income countries, the Bank focuses on strengthening economic governance, creating jobs for the poor, and improving basic services. The data from the World Bank economic overview approves its positive affects on Latin American countries:
• With a $300 million loan, the Bank is helping Argentina to expand Plan Nacer, which reduces infant mortality by increasing access to basic health services for uninsured mothers and children.
• A $200 million loan to Colombia will fund health insurance for 13.7 million poor people and provide access to nutrition programs for 400,000 children.
• The portfolio of 13 active projects in support of countries’ efforts to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS totaled $150.1 million.
• The Bank worked with local partners to create the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, the world’s first multicountry catastrophe-insurance pool, which will help participating countries recover more quickly from hurricanes and earthquakes. IDA provided $23.2 million to help poorer Caribbean states participate in the facility.
We cannot be absolutely confident about positive influence of globalization on the economic situation of Latin American countries. Some scholars argue that globalization prevents internal national market from development; international corporations take advantage of cheap labor in the countries of old World and get a big profit;Integrity of trade erases political boundries,affecting national cultures and traditions. The world's environment is worsening also. Despite all these negative statements, we have a chance to judge the affect of globalization by looking at the data. Latin American markets are more than ever competitive with world market giants. The local economy is in its prime - global competition makes local suppliers keep prices low, people of the old world have better choices of products, and they benefit from better living conditions than 20 years ago.
Images:
Image 1: A picture of the World Bank.
Image 2: A picture of Santiago Chile, a growing city.
Work Cited
Dreher, Axel; Noel Gaston and Pim Martens, 2008, Measuring Globalization - Gauging its Consequence, New York: Springer.
Santiago: Layer of Smog. 10 Sept. 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. 10 Sept. 2008
World Bank. "America Latina and the Caribbean Regional Brief." Www.worldbank.org. Mar. 2008. 3 Sept. 2008
World Bank: US no longer top donor. 15 Dec. 2007. Fortune Watch. 10 Sept. 2008
World Bank. "World Development Indicators database." Siteresources.worldbank.org. 1 July 2008. 3 Sept. 2008
Posted 9/10/2008
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