IKN

On checking through virtual dust covered files of this computational machine this morning, your humble scribe came across a dataset put together in 2009. It contained the GDP figures in purchasing power parity terms for all Latin America countries, with the figures supplied by that reliable source for world macro numbers, the CIA World Factbook*. So like one does, it was back to the Factbook once again to see how things had changed in the intervening period and here’s how the new data (tasteful green red) compares to the old data (tasteful red green…oops):

By the way, I’ve only included the numbers for the 2011 GDP dataset because the chart got too busy otherwise. However, the immediate thoughts turned to “So who’s done best in that time period, Otto?” and a few clicks and drags in Excel later we get this, a chart that shows the relative percentage gains of all the countries in the period provided, which is a much more interesting thing I think:

The result is that Argentina is the best performing country in Latin America between 2009 and 2011…in GDP PPP terms at least. Which is interesting I think, because all you hear from the wise and sagacious North is how Argentina is a craphole of death and horrible. The above is this kind of snapshot which helps explain just why Klishtina managed to get re-elected with ease, but don’t tell that to the dumbasses in suits (aka economists) that draw a healthy salary from predicting Argentina’s imminent collapse every year.

Other winners include Panama, Paraguay, Chile and Peru, all scoring over 20% GDP growth (in ppp terms at least and if you want to know more about this metric and what it measures, try this page to start). We note the big economies of Brazil and Mexico firmly entrenched in mid-table obscurity on the list. We also note, in general terms at least and with exceptions, that South American counties have done better than Central American countries in the time period. Finally, we note the poor showing of both Venezuela and El Salvador, despite the relative popularity of those state’s leaderships (Chávez is on course for re-election, Funes is still scoring 70%+ popularity numbers). Money isn’t everything, you see.

PS: If you want the GDP per capita numbers, work em out yourself this time because I can’t be bothered. If you care enough, mail me and I’ll send over my dataset to get you started.