Podcast: Can Anyone Fix Brazil’s Economy?
Reading Time: < 1 minute
Economist Monica de Bolle discusses the prospects of a fiscal turnaround under Brazil’s next president on this episode of “Deep South.”
Economics & Finance
Why Markets Should Be Skeptical of Jair Bolsonaro
Reading Time: 3 minutes
The leader in polls for Brazil’s October election does not have a pro-business past.
Argentina: Will the IMF Save or Doom Macri’s Reform Agenda?
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Argentina’s turn to the IMF to relieve pressure on the peso carries significant political risks for the president.
The Real Cost of Brazil President Michel Temer’s Pension Reform Failure
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Dogged by scandal, Temer spent his political capital on survival, leaving little for urgently needed reform.
Venezuela Should Consider Dollarization
Reading Time: 5 minutes
Replacing the bolívar with the dollar would mean losing a policy tool, but the short-term benefits might be worth it.
Por qué Venezuela debería contemplar la dolarización
Reading Time: 6 minutes
Cambiar el bolívar por el dólar implicaría sacrificar una herramienta monetaria, pero puede valer la pena.
Four Reasons for Brazil’s Credit Dysfunction – and How to Fix It
Brazil’s Central Bank raised eyebrows in December when it lowered its target interest rate to 7 percent. That’s high by global standards, and about average for other major emerging markets, but it was a milestone for Latin America’s biggest economy: 7 percent is the lowest key interest rate in Brazil’s history. That Brazil’s all-time lowest … Read more
Four Reasons for Brazil’s Credit Dysfunction – and How to Fix It
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Brazil’s sky-high cost of credit hurts the economy; lowering it could be an important step in boosting growth and jobs.
What to Make of Venezuela’s Last-Minute Debt Negotiations
Reading Time: 3 minutes
AQ spoke to a debt expert on what a default means for Venezuela and the world.
Trump’s New Cuba Sanctions Miss Their Mark
After two years of restored diplomatic ties, new U.S. regulations on Cuba are bringing back a thicket of travel, financial and trade restrictions – and a tougher stance toward the island. The goal of these restrictions, according to U.S. President Donald Trump, is to starve the Cuban government of money from travel, remittances and commercial … Read more
How Colombia’s Economic Outlook Puts Pressure on the Peace Deal
Reading Time: 4 minutes
Developing rural areas will be hard – and expensive. How will Colombia pay for it?
The Trouble With Cuba’s New Economy
When Raúl Castro steps down as Cuba’s president in February 2018, he will hand off to his successor the unfinished task of reforming the economy. It is Cuba’s most urgent need and, at the same time, an increasingly controversial one. Castro succeeded his brother Fidel as president in 2008 amid serious structural economic problems on … Read more
Can Latin America’s Development Banks Be Fixed?
Scandals and corruption investigations unfolding in Latin America have given development banks a terrible reputation: They stand accused of feeding crony capitalism, transferring resources from taxpayers to undeserving billionaires, and making lending decisions that misallocate capital at the whims of bureaucratic planners who do not necessarily know best. Should we just close them, implode their buildings … Read more
What’s Driving the Eerie Calm in Brazil’s Markets?
Just two weeks ago, corruption allegations involving Brazil’s President Michel Temer tipped the economy into turbulence: the stock market plummeted, the Brazilian real fell sharply, and headlines of the country descending into political and financial panic were everywhere. Again. By June 1, however, the economy had found an eerie calm. The Bovespa, Brazil’s stock market, … Read more
Why U.S. Tax Reform Threatens Mexico’s Financial Future
While tweets and speeches may continue to cause consternation in Mexico and Canada, the existential threat to NAFTA seems to have passed. President Donald Trump is now talking about giving “renegotiation a good, strong shot” rather than rescinding the free trade agreement entirely. On the docket will be intellectual property, labor rights, e-commerce, rules of … Read more
