Economics
Oct 2, 2025
José Antonio Ocampo
Decades of sluggish growth, premature deindustrialization, and insufficient investment have left Latin American countries dependent on commodity exports and vulnerable to external shocks. To avoid another lost decade, governments must adopt bold industrial policies, deepen regional integration, and focus on job creation.
NEW YORK – Latin America’s economic problems are structural, and they are not going away on their own. A recent survey by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) makes this clear, showing that neither the market-oriented reforms of the 1980s nor the progressive agendas of the left-leaning governments that have led much of the region in recent decades have delivered sustained growth. The conclusion is unavoidable: Latin American countries must adopt a new development model.
