Economy and Development

NAFTA or America First: The Vantage Point of the Auto Industry

By US Latin American Relations
May 10, 2018

In the world of trade policy, not much if anything is ever clear one way or the other. This is certainly true for the relationship that the American auto industry has had with NAFTA ever since its ratification. While many blue collar workers and others point to free trade agreements as the reason why their careers are no longer a given, the auto industry sings a much different song. A song that preaches of the good that globalization has done and that if it were not for NAFTA many more of those all so important American jobs would have been lost then already were.

Fighting the Obesity Epidemic in Mexico: A Combined Effort

By Genevieve O’Brien
April 30, 2018

According to a recent publication by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), Mexico is the world leader in its combined overweight and obesity rates among adults, with over three-quarters of the population over 15 suffering from one of these two conditions (Mexico News Daily 2017). To make matters worse, Mexico’s obesity rates have been gradually on the rise over the past forty years. Obesity reduces both the quality of life and the life expectancy of individuals by putting individuals at higher risk for developing chronic illnesses.

Effects of Corruption on the Economy of Latin America

By Megan Prenatt
April 19, 2018

This article was written as part of the course “Latin American Economic Development” offered by Professor Marla Ripoll, Department of Economic, University of Pittsburgh.

 

According to a 2017 IMF report, corruption in Latin America is one of the biggest hindrances

on the economy. Corruption can impede prospects for delivering sustainable and effective

growth. Many corruption cases go undocumented due to the fact that in many cases it is illegal

and very well hidden. This makes it difficult to obtain clear data for research. However, with

Gondolas in Latin America

By John Robert Foster
March 29, 2018

Completion of the Metrocable Medellin in Medellin, Colombia, more than a decade ago ushered in an alternative form of public transportation to densely populated, underserved, geographically isolated communities in Latin America. The Metrocable Medellin and its numerous predecessors are essentially gondolas that are typically associated with transportation from the bottom to top of the hill at ski resorts.

Sino-Bolivian Relations and Economic Growth

By Caroline Kay Harpel
March 22, 2018

Bolivia is a landlocked country in Latin America, whose economic and cultural centers are located in remote, mountainous regions. This geography has posed challenges for economic exchanges for hundreds of years, and Bolivia is one of the poorest, least developed countries in South America. Bolivia’s stagnation in industrialization can in part be explained by the geography hypothesis delineated by Armendáriz and Larraín (2017), which postulates that forces of nature are a root cause of national poverty.

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