quick question about Chile

[R_P_A_S]

Chile is said to be the "richest" country in Latin America. Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina and Costa Rica trail behind it when it comes to "per capita income" Lately I been hearing and just reading things here and there that their cops are the least corrupt in the continent. that the economy is booming and inflation is at record low. bla bla bla. Ok. well my question is. I guess a two part.

How true is all this, and if it's true what does it have to do with? what major changes are taking place in Chile? why all the sudden the booming economy and all this things I been hearing.

and two, does this reflect good on Pinochet and how he kept "chile from heading into communism"???

thank you

[BobKKKindle$]

Check your other thread on GDP for a post from me on the limitations of GDP per Capita as a measure of the standard of living or macro-economic peformance.

Just a note on Growth Rates in general - examining the growth rate of an economy for a small time period should not be considered an accurate measure of the economic strength of a country. Remember that Capitalism has a tendency to go into periods of crisis with intermittent periods of boom and expansion so one must examine the economy in the long term.

The policies that were implemented by Pinochet following the 1973 resulted in an enduring inequality in the distribution in income, and the increases in gross domestic product (I.e. Economic Growth) have not resulted in increases in real income for those in medium and low income groups. Based on this, as Leftists, we can see that Chile's experiment in radical free market economics has resulted in an unmitigated disaster that continues today. However, from the perspective of the Capitalist Class, Pinochet's forms have allowed them to expand their profits and economic power at the expense of the proletariat.