South America

South America is considered as America’s continent. It is located along the Western Hemisphere with most of it along the Southern Hemisphere and a quarter along the Northern Hemisphere as well. The Pacific Ocean is on its western side, the Atlantic Ocean is on its northern and eastern side, and the Caribbean Sea is by the northwest.

South America boasts of their beautiful landscapes, rivers and even the Angel Falls found in Venezuela, which is the world’s highest waterfall. The Amazon River, which is the largest river; Andes, which is the longest mountain range; the Atacama Desert, which is the driest desert; the Amazon Rainforest, which is the largest rainforest; Ticlio Peru, which is the highest railroad; and Lake Titicaca, which is the highest commercially navigable lake in the world are all located in North America also.

Unique and interesting animals have been discovered in South America. Some of the popular ones would be the anaconda, the llama, the jaguar, the piranha, the tapir and the vicuna.

South America’s leading mineral resources would be silver, gold, copper ore, iron, oil and tin. These resources have helped South America with regards to their income, especially during times of actual war. It has also helped South America during instances of fast economic growth of highly industrialized countries.

The inflation and poverty rate in South America 

With the high inflation rate apparent in most of South America’s nations, some of their country’s interest rates have become high while some of their nation’s investment market slowly goes down.

South America has built the Union of South American Nations. It aims to sustain a continent-wide free trade zone. This has united 2 free-trade organizations, the Andean and the Mercosur Community.

Since most of the nations in South America have a high poverty rate, the actual economic gap that separates the richer from the poorer nations of South America have become a bigger issue than those in other continents. In fact, this is visible in some cities in South America. You will see a lot of slums and makeshift shacks just adjacent to their luxurious upper-class apartments and large skyscrapers.

Although most of South America’s nations have poverty, inflation and investment issues, a majority of countries in South America is doing well. Tourism industry has proven to be an effective tool for the growth they are slowly experiencing.

More tourists and investors have found the potential of other South American nations in the market. Beautiful beaches, nature preserves and amazing landscapes have brought millions of tourists to this part of the globe. Cruise Liners have found destinations in South America to be a good source of profit.

The Growth in Tourism 

Although most of the countries are still underdeveloped or lacked the necessary infrastructure, the growth in Tourism is slowly helping these nations develop or reform their industries. Since most of the countries are still emerging, the prices of land there are still low. As their economy grows with the increase of revenues from visitors, tourists and investors; the return potential of investments there are also growing.

Like any other nation doing well in the market right now, once South America’s growing countries bolster in the market, the prices of land there will also reach reasonable and competitive values. Others claim that it is still best to invest while the prices are low but the potential for return is high.

Argentina

The economy of Argentina started to slowly go down when it experienced a major recession during the mid 50’s.  Before the recession, Argentina was one of the strongest and most prosperous amongst industrialized nations. Thus, their economy experienced a more severe downfall during a military dictatorship which lasted for almost 7 years (1976-1983).

To heal their declining economy, their government started to borrow large loans from private bank institutions and the IMF. These loans had high interest rates. When Argentina sought rapid liberalization measures, their corrupt and disorganized method along with a military dictatorship caused a major bankruptcy in more than 400,000 companies in their country. Ever since, Argentina experienced a continuous decline in their economy.

Argentina's Current Standing 

Today, Argentina is slowly regaining itself. Amidst this slow progression, a majority of their population still thrive in poverty.

Although experiencing economic crisis, Argentina still struggles hard and benefits from their abundant and rich natural resources. Their government is also focusing on their agricultural exports and their diversified industrial sector.

Although Argentina was once amongst the wealthiest nations, they are striving now with a newly industrialized type of economy.

Export Commodities and Livelihood in Argentina 

Their leading export commodities would be vegetable oils and soy. Other export goods would be maize, wheat, sunflower seeds and oats. Aside from this, they also benefit from cattle, with beef, milk, cheese and leather products.

Argentina is also considered the world’s 5th largest producer of wine. Natural gas, industrial oil and petrochemicals are also one of their export groups.

Other sources of livelihood in Argentina would be mining, fishing and manufacturing. Mining would include silver, gold, magnesium, copper, zinc, sulfur, uranium and tungsten. Fishing would include squid and Pollack. Manufacturing, on the other hand, would include motor vehicles, farming equipment, transportation equipment, auto parts, cement and home appliances among others.

Overall, their service sector would be the biggest contributor for their GDP. Apart from this, they are currently enhancing their tourism industry. In fact, Tourism in Argentina accounts to about 7% of their actual economic output.

Tourism and Infrastructures 

More tourists and foreigners are flocking to Argentina. This would be due to their safe, affordable and diverse community. Argentina boasts of their beautiful landscapes, exotic beaches and renowned wineries.

As for their infrastructure, they are continuously developing it to sustain the vast number of tourists going to Argentina. They already have well-developed roads and highway systems. In fact, their railway network is considered as amongst the largest in the whole world.

Although Argentina experienced a major decline in their economy, their government continues to find ways to improve their nation. Land there is still considerably low priced. Thus, it is also possible that once their Tourism industry bolsters, prices there would also go up.

Bolivia

In South America, it is a sad fact that Bolivia is considered as their poorest country. This is actually because of their high rate of corruption and their imperialist’s role on foreign powers in Bolivia. This is ever since their colonization.

Like Argentina, Bolivia is also very rich in natural resources. They have very famous mines. In fact, they are even regarded as “a donkey sitting on a gold mine”.

Bolivia is also considered to rank next after Venezuela in having the largest natural gas field. This is for the whole of South America.

History of their Economic Decline 

Their economic situation would go back to about 3 decades ago. Several factors have led to this setback. During the 1980’s, the tin industry experienced a dramatic downfall. Tin is actually Bolivia’s leading mining industry and their main source of income. The price decline of tin in the market resulted to a major blow in Bolivia’s economy.

After the downfall of tin, during the early 1990’s, the Cold War ended.  As the war ended, Western Countries who upheld a market-liberal regime withdraw their economic aid to Bolivia.

After this, Bolivia’s coca-crop production was eradicated by the US. This large reduction in their coca-crop industry led to a major loss of actual income in Bolivia’s economy.

As Bolivia’s government continue to implement programs for structural reformation and macroeconomic liberalization to maintain stability in the market prices and to create positive conditions for sustainable growth; it has been proven to have improved their customs-service sector. Thus, the capitalization of many public sectors has become the most vital structural change in their economy.

Market liberal policies have actually stabilized their legislative reforms. This is especially apparent in their telecommunication and hydrocarbon industry.

Trading and Finance 

Foreign investments were encouraged as foreign investors benefit from a non-restriction of foreign ownership. Right now, Bolivia is experiencing growth in its trade sector with some neighboring countries.

The largest trading-partner of Bolivia is the United States, with about $283 million worth of exported merchandise and $162 million worth of imported products. The exports would be tin, jewelry, wood and gold products. The imports would be vehicles, computers, machinery and wheat products.

Up to now, the government of Bolivia is still very dependent on actual foreign assistance. This is being used to finance their development projects.

Opening New Grounds for Tourism 

In fact, last 2004, Bolivia’s government focused on the development of their port-facilities. This would be the ones located in Puerto Busch along the Paraguay River, the Puerto Aguirre and Puerto Suarez situated on the farther north.

These developments aim to cater to larger ships docking in Bolivia. This would include cruise-liners for tourists and visitors. This would also increase Bolivia’s chances for growth in their economy.