Chile's Success Story is Difficult to Deny

Ian V ásquezWeeks after a 3.75% rise in metro fares in Santiago, Chile sparked violent protests by a small group of students that then generated more widespread disruption, mostly peaceful mass protests continue. Some observers have seized on the political crisis to make often-repeated claims that Chile ’s free-market model has generated growing inequality and been fundamentally unjust despite having produced greater wealth.Yet such claims are difficult to square with the facts. Since its free-market reforms began in 1975, Chile has quadrupled its income per capita, making it the most prosperous country in Latin America. Chile ’s improvement on the whole range of indicators of well-being—e.g., maternal mortality, access to proper sanitation, etc.—is impressive, and the country consistently outperforms the region. It has the highest rating among Latin American countries on the UN’sHuman Development Index(and ranks 44th in the world); it has the best educational system in the region as measured by student performance; and it does not just have one of the freest economies in the world, it has thehighest levels of overall freedom, including civil and personal liberties, in Latin America.The Fall in InequalityChile ’s growth has allowed it to reduce its poverty rate from more than 45% in the 1980s to 8.6%, and to create a large middle class. The country's income inequality, which has been high for hundreds of years, has been falling considerably since the 1990s, accor...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs