Guest Thinkers — March 14, 2011

Latin America’s Export Windfall

Latin America is experiencing an exceptional boom, owing to soaring income from exports of natural resources. But is the region making the most of this opportunity to use the funds effectively?

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Former Economic Minister of Argentina, Jose Luis Machinea charts a course for spending Latin America’s revenue windfall responsibly: “With the exception of Central America, rising commodity prices have improved the external accounts and fiscal positions of Latin American countries. Revenue from natural-resource exports represented 25% of total income in the public sector in 2008. In Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Mexico, it exceeded 40%. This comes to around 7% of GDP in these countries (more than 11% in Venezuela and Bolivia, and 8% in Ecuador and Mexico)…”

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Strange Maps

Half of All Mexicans Paid a Bribe in the Previous 12 Months

Also according to this survey, Brazil is the least corrupt country in Latin America

Strange Maps

See Which Commodities Make the World Go Round

From peanuts over petroleum to opium: these are the exports that power global trade

Culture & Religion

the new guard : how latin america’s creative class can help the region

Latin America is the forgotten continent, often ignored by the U.S. and the rest of the developed world. But the region and its rich cultural and creative resources could play a more visible and relevant role with the advent of its creative class, which if properly supported, could partake on what is increasingly an economy of ideas and innovation. This evolution could also help the region drastically change its image.

A detailed, colorful brain visualization with intricate patterns of green, blue, and yellow on a dark background.

Neuropsych

The most detailed brain map ever

Scientists have created a magnificent portrait of every connection among neurons in a fruit fly’s brain.

Animated characters observe a family walking in a snowy scene through a viewing screen, inside a control room.

Thinking

Everyday Philosophy: Is there such a thing as a “negative emotion”?

There’s little more infuriating in the world than being told to “calm down” when you’re in the midst of a simmering grump.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Is Liberal Interventionism Dead?

During the Clinton years, it would have been easy to secure support for intervention in Libya, but now N.A.T.O. appears timid over the issue of humanitarian intervention. What happened?