Education and Standards of Living
The other conspicuous characteristic of the Southern Cone is its relatively high standard of living and quality of life. Chile's, Argentina’s, and Uruguay's HDIs—(0.805), (0.795), and (0.783)—are the highest in Latin America, similar to those of the richest countries in Eastern Europe, such as Slovenia, Poland or Hungary. Uruguay, where illiteracy technically does not exist, reaches the same level in this area, even considering that it faces restrictions to its industrial and economic growth. The Southern Cone is the most prosperous macro-region in Latin America. It has high life expectancy, access to health care and education. From an economic and liberal point of view the region has been praised for its significant participation in the global markets, and its "emerging economy" profile. More troubling are high levels of income inequality.
| Country | GDP per capita (PPP) |
Income equality |
Poverty Index |
Human Develop. |
Quality of life |
Annual economic growth |
Envirnm. Perform. (2008) |
FSI 2011 |
CPI 2010 |
IEF 2011 |
GPI 2011 |
DI 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Cone | 17,359 | 46.8 | 3.3 | 0.795 (H) | 6.766 | 7.6 | 82.5 | 42.6 | 5.7 | 69.7 | 1.694 | 7.54 |
| Mexico | 15,177 | 51.7 | 5.9 | 0.770 (H) | 6.542 | 5.4 | 79.8 | 75.1 | 3.1 | 67.8 | 2.362 | 6.93 |
| South America | 9,389 | 51.7 | 9.1 | 0.705 (H) | 6.000 | 6.0 | 79.4 | 77.3 | 2.9 | 55.7 | 2.190 | 6.19 |
| Central America | 8,033 | 52.2 | 12.6 | 0.662 (M) | 5.897 | 3.8 | 79.3 | 70.6 | 3.4 | 63.3 | 2.077 | 6.53 |
Southern Cone = Argentina Chile Uruguay
Mexico = Mexico
South America = Brazil Colombia Venezuela Paraguay Ecuador Peru Bolivia
Central America = Costa Rica Panama Nicaragua Honduras El Salvador Guatemala
Read more about this topic: Southern Cone
Famous quotes containing the words education and, education, standards and/or living:
“Every day care center, whether it knows it or not, is a school. The choice is never between custodial care and education. The choice is between unplanned and planned education, between conscious and unconscious education, between bad education and good education.”
—James L. Hymes, Jr. (20th century)
“Tell my son how anxious I am that he may read and learn his Book, that he may become the possessor of those things that a grateful country has bestowed upon his papa—Tell him that his happiness through life depends upon his procuring an education now; and with it, to imbibe proper moral habits that can entitle him to the possession of them.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“With his brows knit, his mind made up, his will resolved and resistless, he advances, crashing his way through the host of weak, half-formed, dilettante opinions, honest and dishonest ways of thinking, with their standards raised, sentimentalities and conjectures, and tramples them all into dust. See how he prevails; you don’t even hear the groans of the wounded and dying.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“this ant-and stone-swallowing uninjurable
artichoke which simpletons thought a living fable
whom the stones had nourished, whereas ants had done
so.”
—Marianne Moore (1887–1972)