Wednesday, May 28, 2014

The Power of Choice

Hogwarts Headmaster Albus Dumbledore memorably said in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:
It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
Dumbledore could have been characterizing the economic policies of the major Latin American countries. Bloomberg reports the "Pacific" countries - Mexico, Colombia, Peru, and Chile - are growing much faster than the "Atlantic" countries - Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina. The reason: differing economic choices.
The countries faring better have opened their economies, adopted market-friendly policies and generate more productivity and investment prospects.

Atlantic countries spent more, including on subsidies and social welfare, while saving and investing less.
Like the man says, "It is our choices...."