Moisés Naím / The Atlantic
“Even in tragedy, Latin America can’t compete,” a cynical friend told me. He was referring to the fact that the region’s poverty is not as grim as Africa’s, armed conflicts not as threatening as Asia’s, and terrorists not as suicidal as the Middle East’s. The problems in Latin America are often overshadowed by those in the rest of the world. Elsewhere, tragedies are more serious and more likely to spill over into other countries.
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Moisés Naím / The Atlantic
In Venezuela, students have been killed while protesting against the government of Nicolás Maduro, who is jailing opposition leaders and just closed a television station that dared broadcast the demonstrations. Argentina is irresponsibly racing toward a dangerous economic cliff. The Brazilian economy is in recession and 2014 will mark its fourth consecutive year of subpar growth, as the country reels from its largest capital flight in more than 10 years.
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Moisés Naím / The Atlantic
Emerging markets can be a lot like teenagers: prone to accidents. They fall, get pushed by others, take reckless risks, and experience mood swings that make them hard to read and unpredictable. This doesn’t mean that mature nations always behave maturely—they too have accidents that, while less frequent, are deeply damaging to them and everyone else. The world is still suffering the consequences of the irresponsible behavior by banks, governments, and consumers in developed countries that triggered the great recession beginning in 2008. But while most advanced economies are now either recovering or no longer in recession, emerging markets are in turmoil. The value of their currencies is plummeting, inflation is up, economic growth is slowing down, and fiscal and trade deficits are soaring. Investors are taking their money and running.
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Moisés Naím / The Atlantic
It was easy to miss the miracle that occurred in New York in the fall of 2000. The miracle was one of the reasons why, over the ensuing decade, humanity experienced the fastest decline in poverty in history.
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