Chile may be politically boring, but its economy works

The Miami Herald ^ | 6/8/2003 | Andres Oppenheimer

[Luis Gonzalez]

*PING*

[Luis Gonzalez]

While most of Chile's neighbors are still passionately debating -- nearly two centuries after independence -- which economic system they want to embrace, Chile has long made up its mind. Governments in Chile come and go -- from the right, the center and the left -- but they all stay the free-market course.

[Welsh Rabbit]

Does this mean those excellent Chilean wines will be even cheaper for now on?

[Luis Gonzalez]

I had not thought of that, but by Jove! I think you're on to something here!

That's what I love about this site, we always keep an eye on the truly important things in life!

[weikel]

Look for the left's hatred of Pinochet to deepen.

[ThanhPhero]

Credit should be given to Pinochet who was the agent of the change to the freemarket system. He brought in the U of Chicago economists to design the system and had the grace to step down when JP2 told him it was time.

[weikel]

Pinochet was a great man who saved Chile from communism and turned Chile into the best place in Latin America. Leftish should be dealt like they were in Chile everywhere.

[Sonny M]

Since the 1988 plebiscite that defeated former dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet, Chile has cut its poverty level -- the number of people living on less than $2 a day -- from 42 percent of the population to 20 percent.

Would it have really killed them, to admit, in all honesty, that because of Pinochet, they are the most successfull of the south american countries and if it wasn't for him, they would be in the same boat as argentina.

[weikel]

I don't think he should have stepped down, I'd have like to see the guy get made Supreme Emperor of the world.

[chudogg]

who is JP2?

[xm177e2]

Pinochet was a great man who saved Chile from communism

Pinochet killed a lot of people. But if you want to make an omelette, you have to break some eggs, right?

[xm177e2]

The Pope.

[Luis Gonzalez]

There may be a whole lot of people killed in Cuba soon, it will be a better place because of those killings.

Some people just need killing.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"Look for the left's hatred of Pinochet to deepen."

Yep...

[Luis Gonzalez]

"In Venezuela, President Hugo Chávez's fiery speeches against ''savage neo-liberalism'' have helped drive up the number of the country's poor by 2.5 million since he took office three years ago, according to former Inter American Bank chief economist Ricardo Haussman."

[xrp]

''We're becoming a U.S.-styled democracy,'' said Eugenio Tironi, a Chilean sociologist who has been an image advisor to Lagos. ``Like in the United States, we have two political coalitions, an increasingly smaller government and a society that is increasingly individualistic.''

Too bad the United States can't adopt smaller government and a society that is increasingly individualistic.

[weikel]

Pinochet killed a lot of people.

When I look at who Pinochet killed I see no people only totalitarian leftist hellspawn.

[xrp]

Pinochet killed a lot of people.

Well...so does the US government.

[Torie]

Chile under the Chicago boys brought in by Pinchet went for the economics of comparative advantage, and it went for it hard. That was particularly smart for a country with a belt of a Mediterranean climate in the Southern Hemisphere, that can do in the "winter" what California cannot. There was a lot of short term pain. No pain, no gain. It also has a privatized social security system, perhaps the only one in the world. Granted, it had the advantage of doing it when there were not massive accrued liabilities under a pay as you go socialized system, so it did not entail huge cash flow problems.