Voters and Markets: Good News from Bolivia

Foundation for Economic Education ^ | Thursday, August 28, 2025 | Marcos Falcone

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Markets react positively to Bolivia’s recent elections.

It happened in Argentina, and now it is happening in Bolivia. Across Latin America, expelling the left from power brings optimism back to the markets. On August 17, Bolivians went to the polls and delivered a historic blow to Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS), the left-wing party that has governed Bolivia during 18 out of the past 19 years. Just a day after the election, bond prices increased by 5%, and the country’s Country Risk Index score fell by 20%, according to JP Morgan. This confirmed the upward trajectory bonds had shown, since they had already risen over 30% this year.

Rodrigo Paz, a centrist candidate who received 32% of the vote, and Jorge Quiroga, a former President and right-wing candidate with 27%, will face each other in the runoff on October 19. But what truly shocked observers was not just that the MAS candidate, Eduardo del Castillo, did not reach the second round; he barely made it to fourth place with only 3% of the vote, just the number of votes they needed for the party to survive. Another centrist candidate, Samuel Doria, took third place.

In this context, it is understandable that current President Luis Arce did not seek reelection. He knew beforehand that voters would repudiate him. Only former President Evo Morales (2006–2020) was bold enough to attempt another run, but the Constitutional Court barred him from seeking a new term. Morales started the vicious circle that has brought the Bolivian economy to its knees over the past two decades, but most of the negative consequences of statism were not experienced until he left office.

The current economic crisis in Bolivia, which has built up over the years, is just another example of the...

[Red Badger]

I bet they don’t use machines..................