Author Archive for John Price
John Price is the managing director of Americas Market Intelligence and a 20-year veteran of Latin American competitive intelligence and strategy consulting. jprice@americasmi.com.
Corruption is growing (again) in Latin America
Latin America has achieved great things over the last decade: improved income distribution, less poverty, more home ownership, higher literacy, and a more robust democracy, among them. Corruption, on the other hand, has worsened. Comparing 2011 Transparency International Corruption index metrics with those of a decade earlier reveals a startling trend of increased corruption across [...]
Credit is King
The expansion of credit has dramatically altered the consumer landscape in Latin America over the last decade. Going back a bit further, in 1990, fewer than 3 percent of Latin American households had a credit card. By 2020, that figure will grow to 25 percent. In Brazil, where credit has grown even more radically, consumer [...]
Searching for El Silicon Valley of Latin America
Politicians across the globe are fond of touting their nation’s high-tech cluster as the next Silicon Valley. Few examples around the world, however, can stack up to the California original. None on that short-list can be found in Latin America. Modern Latin America can boast several fields of excellence but innovation is not one of them. [...]
Time for a little austerity in Latin America
Giving too much money to politicians is like feeding candy to children: it always leads to bad behavior. Latin America is no exception. The decade-long economic boom driven by high commodity prices and cheap capital has been good to Latin American governments and consumers alike. In 2009, when the global financial crisis struck, households and [...]
Why Multi-Latinas Are Winning
In 1999, less than half of the largest 500 companies in Latin America were homegrown. By 2007, Latin American firms commanded three out of every four positions in the regional top 500. Today, multi-Latinas, armed with cash, are stepping out of their comfort zone and taking control of debt-laden firms in Europe and the United [...]
The Contrarian: Go South, Joven
Twenty years ago, when I first headed south to Mexico to launch my Latin American career, I filled my last tank of U.S. gasoline outside of El Paso, Texas. When the station manager, an old Tejano, learned I was moving to Mexico, he quipped, “You’re going the wrong way, man. They’re all moving here.” How [...]
The Contrarian: Reforms the key to improve competitiveness in Mexico
The World Economic Forum’s annual competitiveness ranking is the global beauty pageant for competing nations. Mexico, the darling of emerging markets in the 1990s, had gradually slipped into the “ugly duckling” range of nations, ranking No. 66 by 2010. But Mexico got a bit of a face lift in September 2011, rising eight positions to [...]
The Contrarian: Does Europe Matter Anymore?
How might Latin America fare in such a gloomy environment? Surprisingly well thanks to its own fiscal and monetary discipline and an historic pattern of declining European trade and investment links. Many Latin Americans are proud of their European heritage and go to great lengths to sustain their cultural links to the old continent. Fortunately [...]
The Contrarian: Protectionism returns to South America
Once sheepish about protecting select industries, South American governments are growing bolder in
The Contrarian: Bet on the Hare, not the Turtle
Why Latin America, not China, is the world’s most exciting market opportunity … in the short term.
The Contrarian: The Cost of Living Dangerously
Addressing the Global Travel & Tourism Summit in Las Vegas in May of this year, Mexican President Calderon quipped: “I saw thousands of spring-breakers in Mexico having fun. My understanding is the only shots they received were tequila shots — a lot of them.”
The Contrarian: Fear Not Despot Nor Devaluation But Do Fear Your Rival
Having proved its economic mettle in the aftermath of the financial crisis,
Latin America 2011: Fat, Happy & Uncompetitive
In 2011, every economy in Latin America will expand and the region will grow an impressive 4.5 percent, according to International Monetary Fund estimates. Latin America weathered the financial crisis with its banking system intact, a thriving democracy and a resilient, if not expanding, middle class. Brazil basks in the accolades of financial investors, attracting record investment into Latin America. So what is all the fuss about regional competitiveness? Does competitiveness matter when historical levels of wealth are being created in Latin America?
