Why is North America (US + Canada + Mexico) ,.more economically developed than South American counties.. is it just because the is US culturally that different , I mean South Americans.are we’re originally influenced by Western Europe as well . Or is the some geographic or climatic difference that affected development?
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First of all, it’s a bit unfair to characterize whole of South America as one monolith. It’s composed of many countries, with each country having their own set of unique circumstances and historical and cultural contexts which impact their current economic situation. Also till the beginning of the 20th century, it used to be a prosperous place with countries like Argentina and Brazil attracting immigrants from western European countries. Much of the countries in the region at that time were richer than European countries including their former colonial rulers i.e. Spain and Portugal.
It was mostly poor choice of policies by the governments. The import-substitution industrialization model adopted by most of the countries in the region where trade barriers and controls shielded the domestic industries from competition backfired as it created a class of businesses dependent upon government support with no incentive to improvise. The collapse of this model was the reason behind economic decline in many of the countries. Also political instability in the post-WWII era(partially cause by American interventions) meant that there was no stable direction of economic policies which ran the economies of these countries to the ground. Furthermore, countries rich in commodities i.e. Venezuela became dependent on the export of these commodities which exposed them to price shocks and economic volatility.
But there are still success stories. Chile was able to reform its economy and pursue reformist policies in a sustained manner and now is considered a high-income country. So in short, it boils down to the policies pursued by the governments and stability in the country.
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