The COHA Blog – Mounting Debt: The U.S. Could Learn from Latin America
The most recent post on the COHA blog compares the different debt situations faced by both the U.S. and Latin American nations.
Time and again, the U.S. has scolded Latin American statesmen for their inability to handle their debt. Since independence, the region has defaulted on its public debt payments to foreign creditors a total of 126 times, more than all countries in the rest of the world (112) combined. However, over the last decade much has changed: public debt as a percentage of GDP fell dramatically from 53 percent in 2003 to just 32 percent in 2008. Meanwhile, U.S. debt has increased from 60 percent of GDP in 2003, to a staggering 98.4 percent today. The North would do well to learn from the disastrous consequences of heavy public debt experienced for centuries by their southern neighbors.
To read the full blog, click here.
Blog de Octavio Islas 