Hard economic times may just be starting

The finantial crisis in USA will especially hurt Mexico and Central America, whose economies are closely tied to the U.S. market.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Don't be fooled by the universal sigh of relief that was heard Friday when the U.S. Congress approved a $700 billion package to rescue the U.S. banking system.

The measure will help avoid an economic collapse, but the U.S. economy will remain in the doldrums, and Latin America will be hit harder than many suspect.

Granted, the Wall Street crisis that rocked world markets in recent weeks will not mean ''the debacle of capitalism,'' as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez triumphantly proclaimed, nor will it cause the First World to ''plunge like a bubble,'' to use Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's mixed metaphor.

That's not going to happen. More likely, it will mean a shift of the pendulum from the Bush administration's excessively deregulated free market economy to a more ...

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