Can North Africa become the new South America?

[????]

In reality, Chile is the richest and soundest economy in South America and was the first country in the world to apply free market reform, moneterist policies and structural reform a la the Chicago School/Milton Freedman...all so despised by socialists

[Brendan]

Is that an observation about economics or an indictment of US backed military dictatorships with dodgy human rights records?

[????]

It's largely an observation of Economics. Of cousre, 'historically' , Pinochet was an out and out baddy, in the same vain that Regan was a dumb, idiotic cowboy. I'm not sure that things would have worked out so great either in Human Rights terms and certainly economic without the coup but we'll never know and dead lefties always remain heroes a la dead popstars. If the white russians had won I'm sure Stalin would be feted as a messiah in waiting cut off in his prime nowadays...

[mockney piers]

Aaah, good to have you back quids, banging that irrelevant drum. Amazed you didnt bring class into it, athough it's the strong middle class and cultural industriousness and onus on education that serves Chile so well.

Not having drug production (for the US) and smuggling (to the US) issues, and having been historically relatively free from the cancerous influence of the Monroe doctrine in latin America, it's been better poised to do well.

Argentina should be likewise if it didn't have so many kleptocrats in charge squandering it's immense wealth.

Not everything has to be viewed through the Milton vs Keynes lens you know.

[????]

Well. It wasn't doing so great before monetarism

[Brendan]

Yeah it isn't all about Milton Keynes yeh get me.