"Despite the impact Covid 19 has had on the region's economy, four factors have shown as positive", explained Laura Alfaro, economist, and Harvard Business Administration academic as she began her presentation at The Political Economic Perspectives of Latin America webinar.
 

The initiative organized by the Management Sloan School (MIT) and the Faculty of Economics and Business of U. de Chile, was broadcast simultaneously in the United States as well as in Chile.

 
The event featured a presentation by prominent Venezuelan journalist, writer, former Minister of Industry and Commerce, director of the nation’s Central Bank and executive director of the World Bank, Moisés Naím as well as FEN’s dean José De Gregorio and MIT academic and expert on financial crises and their propagation Roberto Rigobon as panelists.

 
Alfaro’s presentation began by pointing out Latin America’s heterogeneity and its fiscal space, however, she stated that there are certain factors that are shared, such as low productivity and performance; a weak economic structure related to informality and small companies; and a weak social structure linked to poverty and inequality.

 
And as she explained, it was under this landscape that the pandemic arrived which brought the economist to ask, “how sustainable is recovery? Much of the employment being created is in the informal sector, which leads us to wonder if this recovery is sustainable. "
 

Although there are various effects that the disease has brought with it, the economist was emphatic in pointing out the damage suffered and the lingering effects on Latin America’s education. "Evidence shows that we are heading to another lost decade in terms of education in the region, back to where it was in the 80s, product of Covid and the absence of in person classes."

 
Journalist Moisés Naím’s presentation exposed the region’s instability in matters such as governance. "The probability that Latin America will enter the next decade with fewer democracies is very high. Latin America’s perception of democracy is the worst in the world," he commented.
 

Another of the points mentioned by the writer was related to the companies and industries present in the region. "Latin America has a deficit of large companies. We have many bonsai companies, but we need to aspire to bamboo companies, flexible and with the capacity to grow."

 Check the full discussion here