Latin America Overview: More Fun With Charts

While economic growth in the developed world is moderate at best, does the developing world hold more promise?  Today I am taking a look at the countries of Latin America.  The first chart below gives an overview of the countries in the region, which helped me to see the scale of the economies in the region.  By the way, both of these charts are made with data from the International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook Database, available on the web at http://www.imf.org/external/ns/cs.aspx?id=28

The second chart gives an idea of GDP growth rates in 2010 and 2011, which might possibly correlate to profitable investment opportunities.

We can see from the chart that the region bounced back vigorously from the 2008-2009 downturn (unlike its giant neighbor to the north), and growth in the major markets: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia and Chile continues into 2011.

Peru, a poorer country, may be emerging as a regional success story.  It should be noted that Peru recently inaugurated a new left-wing President, Ollanta Humala.  According to the press, he is attempting to persuade investors that his administration will have more in common with Brazil's pro-growth, pro-labor former primer minister Lula, than with Venezuela's "Bolivarian revolutionary" Hugo Chavez, who among other things recently announced the nationalization of gold mining companies.

Paraguay's record growth rate of 15% in 2010 is interesting to see, but it is a tiny country (see first chart), and the IMF notes that its GDP growth is highly volatile, and largely dependent on agricultural factors.

There were several interesting stories on the region in last week's Economist, including:

• Politics in Brazil: Dilma Tries to Drain the Swamp, about the Brazilian Prime Minister's ongoing fight against government corruption.
• Argentina's President: In Her Prime, about a recent primary in Argentina,which all but guarantees President Cristina Fernandez's re-election in October.
• Mexico's Presidential Race: A Flash in the PAN, about the difficulty of finding a successor to outgoing President Felipe Calderon, and the strong possibility that the country will elect a leader from the left-ish PRI party next year, after many years of being led by the conservative PAN party.
• Venezuela's Economy: Medieval Policies, about attempts by Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to tame inflation by imposing price controls.  According to the article, the country now has the world's highest rate of inflation.