The latest Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum shows that, despite successful efforts in certain countries, the region as a whole is still lagging behind.
According to Transparency International’s Index of Corruption Perceptions (CPI)—an index that measures the severity of corruption in a country on a scale of 0 (very corrupt) to 100 (very clean), with any score below a 50 indicating a government is failing at tackling corruption—the regional average for the Americas is 44 points. The only countries in the region that scored above a 50 were: Costa Rica, Dominica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Barbados, Chile, the Bahamas and Uruguay.
In the coming weeks, Global Americans will release a serialized report on indigenous rights and political integration in the Americas, focusing on the comparative cases of Mexico and Guatemala. First up, an introduction to the project and a primer on the state of political integration across the hemisphere.
If Latin America and the Caribbean is to catch up to its peers in Europe and Asia, now is the time for governments to embrace responsible industrial policy.
