Great and expansive front-page WSJ feature from 15th.
Disappointing to the anti-globalization crowd, but it's been very, very good to LATAM, decreasing its poor and increasing its middle class in a steady fashion since Cold War's end.
A realistic snapshot:
The expanding middle is benefiting from a strong period of economic growth—fueled by high commodity prices in many countries—along with more aggressive social programs with a decided focus on education.
But the advances are still tenuous, and the possibility of a global recession haunts the prospects of los emergentes—the emerging ones—as marketers call the newly minted middle-class members.
Protecting what's gone on there is such a huge - even worldwide - responsibility. Ditto for Africa.
We don't do it out of anything but common sense. Check out the rising demand function:
This is the opportunity we piss away with our insane "war on drugs."
The world is booming and all we see is fear.