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South America is very underrated. People still think about the region in 20-30 year old stereotypes, but most countries have gotten much more stable, economics

South America is very underrated. People still think about the region in 20-30 year old stereotypes, but most countries have gotten much more stable, economics have improved drastically. Workforce is highly educated, different countries share a very similar culture and mostly speak the same language, which means that a lot of things can be scaled much easier. Of course, there's also Portuguese, which is still somewhat similar, and Quechuan languages speakers who learn Spanish as a second language, but this doesn't change the equation much. The only thing the region lacks is investment and ecosystem to attract and protect it.

ethbr1 3y ago
Venezuela's perpetual political/economic fuck-ups (going on 125 years at this point? [0]), Argentina's recurring currency fuck-ups, some really nasty left-wing vs right-wing spats between countries, and a generally weak rule of law / judiciary (in comparison with executive branches) deserve mentioning too. South America could stand to learn a LOT from ASEAN -- stability = international investment = economic growth = happy people = stability. In contrast, in South America inveterate bickering about politics dominates and you end up with something like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_American_bodies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_Ameri... I hope it sorts itself out! And I know Columbia and Brazil are developing some impressive technical industries, especially since they share North America timezones. But it should be honest about the headwinds. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambigu...
- truculent 3y ago
  The problem is that the “stability” and invesment interventions from the USA has typically come with some rather unpleasant strings attached. I think it’s either patronising or ignorant to suggest that various Latin American countries policy decisions weren’t made with that in mind.
  - ethbr1 3y ago
    It doesn't have to be US investment!

ethbr1 3y ago

Venezuela's perpetual political/economic fuck-ups (going on 125 years at this point? [0]), Argentina's recurring currency fuck-ups, some really nasty left-wing vs right-wing spats between countries, and a generally weak rule of law / judiciary (in comparison with executive branches) deserve mentioning too. South America could stand to learn a LOT from ASEAN -- stability = international investment = economic growth = happy people = stability. In contrast, in South America inveterate bickering about politics dominates and you end up with something like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_American_bodies https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Supranational_Ameri... I hope it sorts itself out! And I know Columbia and Brazil are developing some impressive technical industries, especially since they share North America timezones. But it should be honest about the headwinds. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambiguation) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venezuelan_crisis_(disambigu...

truculent 3y ago
The problem is that the “stability” and invesment interventions from the USA has typically come with some rather unpleasant strings attached. I think it’s either patronising or ignorant to suggest that various Latin American countries policy decisions weren’t made with that in mind.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  It doesn't have to be US investment!