Economy
During the last two decades, South American countries have experienced significant economic growth, which can be seen in many of these countries with the construction of new skyscrapers like the Gran Costanera tower in Chile, and also transportations systems like the Bogota Metro. However, because of histories of high inflation in nearly all South American countries, interest rates remain high and investment remains low. Interest rates are usually twice that of the United States. For example, interest-rates are about 22% in Venezuela and 23% in Suriname. The exception is Chile, which has been implementing free market economic policies since establishing military dictatorship in 1973 and has been increasing its social spending since the return of democratic rule in the early 1990s. This has led to economic stability and interest rates in the low single digits.
South America relies less on the export of both manufactured goods and natural resources than the world average; merchandise exports from the continent were 16% of GDP on an exchange rate basis, compared to 25% for the world as a whole. Brazil (the seventh largest economy in the world and the largest in South America) leads in terms of merchandise exports at $251 billion, followed by Venezuela at $93 billion, Chile at $86 billion, and Argentina at $84 billion.
The economic gap between the rich and poor in most South American nations is larger than in most other continents. The richest 10% receive over 40% of the nation's income in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Paraguay, while the poorest 20% receive 3% or less in Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia. This wide gap can be seen in many large South American cities where makeshift shacks and slums lie in the vicinity of skyscrapers and upper-class luxury apartments; nearly one in nine in South America live on less than $2 per day (on a purchasing power parity basis).
| Country | GDP (nominal) in 2011 | GDP (PPP) in 2011 | GDP (PPP) per capita in 2011 | Merchandise exports ($bn), 2011 |
HDI in 2011 (rank) | Percent with less than $2 (PPP) per person per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 7005447644000000000447,644 | 7005716419000000000716,419 | 700417516000000000017,516 | 700183700000000000083.7 | 69997970000000000000.797 | 70002600000000000002.6 |
| Bolivia | 700424604000000000024,604 | 700450904000000000050,904 | 70034789000000000004,789 | 70009100000000000009.1 | 69996630000000000000.663 | 700124900000000000024.9 |
| Brazil | 70062492908000000002,492,908 | 70062294243000000002,294,243 | 700411769000000000011,769 | 7002250800000000000250.8 | 69997180000000000000.718 | 700110800000000000010.8 |
| Chile | 7005248411000000000248,411 | 7005299632000000000299,632 | 700417222000000000017,222 | 700186100000000000086.1 | 69998050000000000000.805 | 70002700000000000002.7 |
| Colombia | 7005328422000000000328,422 | 7005471964000000000471,964 | 700410249000000000010,249 | 700156500000000000056.5 | 69997100000000000000.710 | 700115800000000000015.8 |
| Ecuador | 700466381000000000066,381 | 7005127426000000000127,426 | 70038492000000000008,492 | 700122300000000000022.3 | 69997200000000000000.720 | 700110600000000000010.6 |
| Falkland Islands (U.K) | 7002165000000000000165 | 7002165000000000000165 | 700455400000000000055,400 | 69991000000000000000.1 | ||
| French Guiana (France) | 70034456000000000004,456 | 70034456000000000004,456 | 700419728000000000019,728 | 70001300000000000001.3 | ||
| Guyana | 70032480000000000002,480 | 70035783000000000005,783 | 70037465000000000007,465 | 69999000000000000000.9 | 69996330000000000000.633 | 700118000000000000018.0 |
| Paraguay | 700421236000000000021,236 | 700435346000000000035,346 | 70035413000000000005,413 | 70009800000000000009.8 | 69996650000000000000.665 | 700113200000000000013.2 |
| Peru | 7005173502000000000173,502 | 7005301967000000000301,967 | 700410062000000000010,062 | 700146300000000000046.3 | 69997250000000000000.725 | 700112700000000000012.7 |
| Suriname | 70033790000000000003,790 | 70035060000000000005,060 | 70039475000000000009,475 | 70001600000000000001.6 | 69996800000000000000.680 | 700127200000000000027.2 |
| Uruguay | 700446872000000000046,872 | 700450908000000000050,908 | 700415113000000000015,113 | 70008000000000000008.0 | 69997830000000000000.783 | 70002200000000000002.2 |
| Venezuela | 7005315841000000000315,841 | 7005374111000000000374,111 | 700412568000000000012,568 | 700192600000000000092.6 | 69997350000000000000.735 | 700112900000000000012.9 |
| Total | 70064176712000000004,176,712 | 70064738384000000004,738,384 | 700411962000000000011,962 | 7002669100000000000669.1 | 69997290000000000000.729 | 700111300000000000011.3 |
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get “a good job,” but to perform well a certain work; and, even in a pecuniary sense, it would be economy for a town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, or even moral ends. Do not hire a man who does your work for money, but him who does it for love of it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The basis of political economy is non-interference. The only safe rule is found in the self-adjusting meter of demand and supply. Do not legislate. Meddle, and you snap the sinews with your sumptuary laws.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)