The global total for money laundering is between 2% and 5% of global GDP, "because illegal proceeds can be transferred easily and instantly from one jurisdiction to another."
In his discussion in an article in Americaeconomia.com, David Santa Cruz describes not only how money from criminal activities has permeated ALL of the economies of the world, but also how national development strategies in many states are adapting to the phenomenon.
Greater respect for property rights leads to faster economic development
The order of the countries in the 2011 International Property Rights Index (IPRI) report is less important than the conclusions that are possible to obtain by analyzing correlations between the parameters that comprise the index and economic development.
The 2011 report highlights the overwhelmingly positive relationship between economic prosperity, measured by per capita GDP, and the protection of intellectual and physical property rights.
A critical view of the simplistic methods used in calculating the tax burden that supports an economy.
When analyzing a tax reform proposal, the first argument considered is what is the percentage of taxes collected by the state in relation to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
Juan Carlos Hidalgo, on his blog at Elfinancierocr.com, shows with solid arguments, the fallacy of comparing, without thorough analysis, the public figures of the ratio of tax revenue to GDP, which leads to erroneous conclusions which usually hide the main problem: the spending inefficiency demonstrated by the state with the money collected through taxes.
Banks credit intermediation and its influence in the generation of goods and services on behalf of the productive system.
In a SECMCA report, Nelson Oswaldo Ramirez presents a brief analysis of the development of banking credit in comparison with the region's economic activity in the first five months of the year. In the way he studies relationships that may exist between the variables of Credit and GDP.
June shows 12-month growth in credit at 6.7%, below the 11.7% it had at the beginning of this year.
According to the president of the Chamber of Industry of Guatemala, Thomas Dougherty, uncertainty about the international economy and contingency plans brought about by companies are a few of the causes for the decrease in requests for lines of credit.
The Banguat president argues that the pace of GDP growth, estimated in the range of 3.0% to 3.5% for this year, is not sustainable.
Siglo 21 published on its website: "The official explained in a meeting with columnists and economic analysts that the reduction in demand and risk aversion among investors have begun to erode economic development. In fact, she noted that there is a revision pending for GDP growth in 2008, whose preliminary figure is 4.0%. De Bonilla would not reveal how much the revision would be because the technicians of the Central Bank are still doing studies to define it based on multiple factors."
Abraham Lowenthall rediscovered the isthmus 25 ago and analyzes the changes that have occurred during that period.
In his column published in America Economia, the analyst asks us to "Imagine that your twin brother will wake up today from a 25 year coma and asks you for a report on the main changes that have occurred in Central America, what will you tell him?
The analysis of the figures used to overcome past historic crisis, indicates that the current is by far the the worst ever.
In several (quite a few, in fact) of the presentations that we have done on the crisis, the first slide is a picture of the grenade and a nuclear war head. Here we question: what is the size of this crisis?. In the presentation we respond that we are experiencing the worst crisis ever seen by those of us alive and worst that we will ever experience (hopefully, this will just remain a desire). We argued using graphs and data about the crisis. It is not an opinion, but as a company that is dedicated to economic intelligence, we try to use evidence to support our opinion.
The country's 2007-2008 Human Development Report will be presented today by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
Slight economic growth in the country between 1980 and 2007 and unresolved social problems involving inequality and poverty "demonstrate how the Guatemalan economic model has failed", the Report states.
The document further indicates that the country has had economic growth levels below average world and regional figures of 2.7 percent between 1980 and 2007, According to the study "they will require 27 years to double their Gross National Product (GNP)"
Honduras and Nicaragua has highest tax rates in CA
The National Consumer Rights Commission of Honduras
report states that Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua have highest tax rates in CA: 20.7%, 17.8% and 17.7% respectively.
On the other hand, El Salvador is at 13.7% and Guatemala at 10.2% are the lowest in the region in comparison to the GDP.
The IMF expects a reduction in the growth of the local economy. It is no longer expected to be 4.3% but 4% due to the global financial crisis.
The negative effects of the crisis may start to be felt in the next few months, since this year the economy will not grow to 4.3% of the GDP as would previously expected, said Minister of Finance, Juan Alberto Fuentes Knight.
The Inflation Expectations Survey revealed a some optimism regarding the behavior of the cost of living for the month of September and the next few months.
Analysts, who are consulted on a monthly basis, forecasted that (for this month) there will be a rate of inflation (for a 12 month period) of 13.15%, while for October and November 2008 they calculate that it will be 13% and 12.27% respectively.
According to statistics from the Tax Bureau the drop in domestic consumption has become especially acute starting in the month of April.
The drop in consumption started in Guatemala in middle of 2007, before macro-economic indicators warned of the crisis. Home consumption, which provides 85% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been reduced due to the loss of purchasing power due to high food and fuel prices which have had their highest increase in the last 30 years.
The Bank of Guatemala revised their growth estimates for 2008 to 4.3% which is lower than the 4.8% predicted in April and the initial 5.3% in January.
The Bank acknowledged that the national economy is slowing down due to adverse international conditions, the high price of oil, food and raw material.
The change comes after the Bank carried out a survey of 1250 companies between April and August to estimate GDP growth based on the behavior of employment, sales, inventories and production.
Despite being considered a Middle-Income Country (MIC), Guatemala’s social indicators reflect slow growth and a skewed income distribution
Education attainment is extremely low (between four and five years on average) for a MIC and, despite advances in enrollment in primary education, the illiteracy rate remains close to one third. Health indicators are similarly poor: only two thirds of the population enjoys access to basic health care, the child malnutrition rate is high, and maternal and infant mortality rates are among the worst in Latin America. Not surprisingly, the poverty rate is unusually high for a MIC, since over half of the population lives below the poverty line.