South+America

Growth Presentation Home

Key Stats
k^{1/3} math ||= **Implied TFP** ||= **I/Y** ||= **K/Y** ||^  || (Notes: **Pop** is 2007 population in millions. **GDP/Pop** is 2007 per capita GDP in 2005 dollars using international prices. **y** is per capita GDP divided by US per capita GDP (i.e. normalized so that the US value is 1). **k^1/3** is capital per capita divided by the US value of capital per capita and then raised to the 1/3 power. **Implied TFP** is **y** divided by **k^1/3**. **I/Y** is the average savings rate from 1980-2007. **K/Y** is the 2007 capital-output ratio. **g** is the average growth rate from 1960-2007. Click here for links to the source data and tips for calculating.)
 * ~ Name ||~ Pop ||~ GDP/Pop ||~ y ||||= Prod Model (Ch 4) ||||= Solow Model (Ch 5) ||~ g ||
 * ^  ||^   ||^   ||^   ||= math
 * Brazil ||> 193.9 ||> 9646 ||> .22 ||> .512 ||> .430 ||> .154 ||> 1.84 ||> .026 ||
 * Colombia ||> 44.4 ||> 7,793 ||> .18 ||> .459 ||> .392 ||> .149 ||> 1.69 ||> .019 ||
 * Argentina ||> 40.05 ||> 15,275 ||> .36 ||> .637 ||> .565 ||> .180 ||> 2.3 ||> .0127 ||
 * Peru ||> 28.8 ||> 6,401 ||> .15 ||> .475 ||> .316 ||> .195 ||> 2.28 ||> .0138 ||
 * Venezuela ||> 26.02 ||> 8,252 ||> .19 ||> .575 ||> .330 ||> .175 ||> 2.37 ||> .0075 ||
 * Chile ||> 16.30 ||> 18,381 ||> .43 ||> .678 ||> .634 ||> .212 ||> 2.31 ||> .0248 ||
 * Bolivia ||> 9.43 ||> 3,779 ||> .088 ||> .334 ||> .263 ||> .105 ||> 1.34 ||> .0069 ||
 * Uruguay ||> 3.46 ||> 12,923 ||> .30 ||> .577 ||> .52 ||> .157 ||> 2.03 ||> .015 ||

__**Bolivia:**__
 * Historically poor country. Evo Morales was elected president in 2006 and his administration has spurred economic growth, averaging 5.2% each year since Morales took office. Many prior economic troubles were caused by political shortcomings, such as falling remittances, declining foreign investment, and revocation of US trade preference status. Much of the growth has been attributed to government takeover of natural gas industry. Source]
 * Largest exports include natural gas, zinc, coca, soybeans, and textiles. Source]
 * //Recent news//: Morales' popularity is declining due to several political errors. A cancellation of several government subsidies led to a 78% spike in the price of gasoline and similar spikes in prices for sugar, flour, and other goods. Cronyism has been rampant in the administration and many critics say that Morales has driven away foreign investment. Source]
 * Bolivia has contracts to export natural gas to both Brazil and Argentina. The country is also part of the Andean Community (CAN) and enjoys free trade agreements with other South American countries. It is also a member of Mercosur and ALBA, two other South American economic alliances. Source]
 * __Colombia:__**
 * ==== On November 10th, 2010 the U.S. government warned travelers about traveling to Colombia. The government warned individuals about the dangers of the narco-terrorists in large cities as well as small towns. There has been a recent increase in car bombings, murders and other terroristic type attacks.[|Source] ====
 * ==== There is a very unequal distribution of wealth throughout Colombia. In 1990, the richest citizens earned 40 times more than the poorest 10% of citizens and 17.8% of citizens live on less that $2 a day.[|Source] ====
 * ==== The main exports include petroleum, coal and coffee and the primary countries that Colombia exports to are the U.S. and Venezuela. [|Source] ====
 * ==== Colombia has had accelerating growth from 2002-2007 after recovering from a hard recession in 1999. Approximately 58% of the labor force is dedicated to the Service Industry and about 11% of the labor force is unemployed. Government debt consisted of 52.8% of GDP in 2007. One cause of government debt and internal conflict is due to the opposing main political parties: the Liberals and the Conservatives. [|Source] ====

__** Argentina: **__

 * ====**__Democracy__** returned in 1983 after a failed bid to seize the Falkland (Malvinas) Islands by force, and has __persisted despite numerous challenges__, the most formidable of which was a severe economic crisis in 2001-02 that led to violent public protests and the successive resignations of several presidents. [|source] ====
 * Argentina benefits from **rich natural resources, a highly literate population, an export-oriented agricultural sector, and a diversified industrial base. [|source]**
 * In 2008, the rapid economic growth of previous years began to slow sharply as government policies __held back exports and the world economy fell into recession.__ The economy __has rebounded__ from the 2009 recession, but the government's continued reliance on expansionary fiscal and monetary policies risks exacerbating already high inflation, which remains under-reported by official statistics. [|source]

__**Brazil: **__
 * Brazil is the largest country in South America both land and population wise.
 * It is the 9th largest energy consumer in the world and its energy consumption has increased by 33% in the last decade alone. This is mainly due to sustained economic growth. There were recent discoveries of large offshore oil deposits that could potentially turn brazil into one of the largest oil producers in the world. (geology.com)
 * GDP per capita is 9646 which is about 7/1000 of what it is in the U.S.
 * Economic growth for 2010 was 7.1% putting it amoung one of the fastest growing economies in the world