What makes the Southern Cone the most prosperous region in Latin America? (speaking, developed)

[Vacanegro]

Originally Posted by UrbanLuis

Because the Southern cone is white and pure. The rest of Latin America is like Mordor.

Not sure you have ever been to the Southern cone if you think that way or perhaps you are from Argentina.

[Untasted]

All the countries and regions surrounding the ( artic and antartica ) outside the tropical zone, just above and below the ( tropics of cancer and capricorn) had the largest European migration in the world

* Northern Hemisphere
1. Europe, Russia, Siberia
2. USA, Canada

* Southern Hemisphere
3. Southern Cone : Argentina,Chile,Uruguay, Paraguay, Southern Brazil (Parana, Santa Catarina, Rio grande do Sul )
4. Southafrica
5. Australia, New Zealand

[Untasted]

All the countries in the Americas received European migration but not as big as the southern cone ( cities like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Rio de janeiro , Caracas and Bogota , have large white minorities , bit in percentages , the southern cone is whiter . ( This is simply the reason why this region is more prosperous, period. ) Look at most part of Brasil, Mexico, Venezuela and Colombia , they are in a worse situation.
....The southern cone region is very unique in many senses , they all share the same cultural customs (especially) such as Mate, barbacue and gauchos or cowboys, 70 % of the population have a strong European dna and appearance ,
1) Argentina and Uruguay remains as the Latin countries with the highest HDI
2) Chile is now the most developed country in latinamerica (they don't need visa ) as tourist to enter the USA
3) southern Brazil is the most prosperous and safest region in Brazil ( they have been seeking independency officially since 1992, with the movement o Sul me pais
4) Paraguay is the least developed in the region, YET this small country is among the fastest growing economies in the world (compared to some middle eastern countries such Qatar,) Mate , actually originated in Paraguay . The currency of Paraguay is practically more valualble and stable than it's Argentinian counterpart. Paraguay is the only country in the Americas that has an indigenous language as official, (a rarity) given the fact that Paraguay native population is less than 1%, most paraguayan have a more mixed/Caucasian feature

[AntonioR]

The babecues and gauchos is certainly not it. Barbecue even comes from the Taino language and mean exactly what it is today. The Spanish discover that style from the Taino indians in Santo Domingo. Cowboys or gauchos was a Spanish tradition and you will see it through out Spanish America. Even in the USA, it developed and remained a part of the culture in the former Spanish lands, especially from California to Texas and every state inbetween. Most of the first horses, bulls, cattle, chickens, etc were first imported to Santo Domingo and from there to everywhere else in the Americas. Notice that the French part (today known as Haiti) doesn’t have cattle ranching tradition as the Spanish side has (and most of the cattle -like 90%- are and have been in the Spanish side). In fact, most of the Haitians can’t digest well anything that come from milk while most Dominicans can (mostly due to their Spanish heritage in their blood). They also have a lot of candy and sweets from milk while the Haitians don’t.

Like I said, it must be something else.

[Untasted]

It is still a striking correlation, isn't it?, Just look at the world map !, As for the gauchos and barbacue, we can for sure see those things in many places in the Americas , but the gauchos culture is still notorious in the country sides of the southern cone. YOU EVER HEARD OF THE EQUATORIAL PARADOX ?,, (COUNTRIES IN THE TROPICAL ZONES and fartther from the Ecuador have a higher per capital income . (Coincidence?), I don't think so. The EQUATORIAL PARADOX actually have nothing to do with equador itself;. But it only happens that most whites can't handle the hot weather very well, this is why they set their "New European Seattlements " in temperate zones . Like USA , Canada, Australia, Argentina , South Africa (this last two countries remains as the ALPHA countries in their respective regions

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by Untasted

It is still a striking correlation, isn't it?, Just look at the world map !, As for the gauchos and barbacue, we can for sure see those things in many places in the Americas , but the gauchos culture is still notorious in the country sides of the southern cone. YOU EVER HEARD OF THE EQUATORIAL PARADOX ?,, (COUNTRIES IN THE TROPICAL ZONES and fartther from the Ecuador have a higher per capital income . (Coincidence?), I don't think so. The EQUATORIAL PARADOX actually have nothing to do with equador itself;. But it only happens that most whites can't handle the hot weather very well, this is why they set their "New European Seattlements " in temperate zones . Like USA , Canada, Australia, Argentina , South Africa (this last two countries remains as the ALPHA countries in their respective regions

Like I said in the other post, barbecue and cattle ranching is not the reason.

I agree with everything else you said, although air conditioning has level the playing fields as far as moving to tropical areas. This is especially true in the Caribbean where most islands lay along the trade winds which moderates the heat versus other tropical areas in the same latitudes. Also higher elevations temper the heat even more. In Cuba and Hispaniola the overall climate is subtropical, on the first because it gets cool enough in much of the territory and the second one, mostly in DR, has many livable valleys that are high enough to have cool nights and low humidities while other valleys its downright chilly. Everywhere else in the Caribbean is tropical, but some islands like Puerto Rico have mountain areas where it gets cool at night.

Most of Argentina’s economy is in Buenos Aires and is based on the internal market. Chile followed the free market under the Chicago Boys and has been successful in resent years. While more free than Argentina’s, its still a mostly domestic market economy with Santiago taking the lions share. Uruguay lived off of Argentina. The whole region (minus Chile) is falling on harder times while others, more tropical countries are reaching and surpassing Argentina. Most of Latin America is still lagging behind, but a handful of tropical countries are giving Argentina a run for its buck.

[Untasted]

Originally Posted by AntonioR

Like I said in the other post, barbecue and cattle ranching is not the reason.

I agree with everything else you said, although air conditioning has level the playing fields as far as moving to tropical areas. This is especially true in the Caribbean where most islands lay along the trade winds which moderates the heat versus other tropical areas in the same latitudes. Also higher elevations temper the heat even more. In Cuba and Hispaniola the overall climate is subtropical, on the first because it gets cool enough in much of the territory and the second one, mostly in DR, has many livable valleys that are high enough to have cool nights and low humidities while other valleys its downright chilly. Everywhere else in the Caribbean is tropical, but some islands like Puerto Rico have mountain areas where it gets cool at night.

Most of Argentina’s economy is in Buenos Aires and is based on the internal market. Chile followed the free market under the Chicago Boys and has been successful in resent years. While more free than Argentina’s, its still a mostly domestic market economy with Santiago taking the lions share. Uruguay lived off of Argentina. The whole region (minus Chile) is falling on harder times while others, more tropical countries are reaching and surpassing Argentina. Most of Latin America is still lagging behind, but a handful of tropical countries are giving Argentina a run for its buck.

1) indeed barbacue and cattle is not the reason ��
2) you go too far with the climatology explanation, (Im not specialist in terms of it), but I only noticed ONE MAJOR PATTERN and that is the correlation that exist , the nearest countries to the artic and antartica , completely outside the tropical zone had a huge European Seatlement and migration
3) as for your argument about Argentina , Uruguay and Chile you sound just right ,BUT (as usual), people don't see the bigger picture , even with the crisis in the southern cone , these countries STILL did and do better than other Latin Americans countries (Because is not just economically) but also socialy, education, human rights, LGBT rights, safety.
4) more tropical countries are surpassing Argentina ?, Well you mean Mexico, Colombia or Peru,? (theyre also more populous than Argentina except Peru, their gdp can be larger but the prosperity of a country is not measured by it's gdp but by their gdp percapita), they do fine but their population are still very poor and their per capital income are lower...

Can you find another explanation ?

[AntonioR]

Originally Posted by Untasted

1) indeed barbacue and cattle is not the reason ��
2) you go too far with the climatology explanation, (Im not specialist in terms of it), but I only noticed ONE MAJOR PATTERN and that is the correlation that exist , the nearest countries to the artic and antartica , completely outside the tropical zone had a huge European Seatlement and migration
3) as for your argument about Argentina , Uruguay and Chile you sound just right ,BUT (as usual), people don't see the bigger picture , even with the crisis in the southern cone , these countries STILL did and do better than other Latin Americans countries (Because is not just economically) but also socialy, education, human rights, LGBT rights, safety.
4) more tropical countries are surpassing Argentina ?, Well you mean Mexico, Colombia or Peru,? (theyre also more populous than Argentina except Peru, their gdp can be larger but the prosperity of a country is not measured by it's gdp but by their gdp percapita), they do fine but their population are still very poor and their per capital income are lower...

Can you find another explanation ?

You never heard of Panama, to give one example? Almost their whole population lives in the tropical zone (the real tropical climate with monsoon and everything) and yet they have become the richest or second richest nation in Latin America. Its something that Argentina hasn’t done since a century ago and have only gone backwards since.

[joacocanal]

Originally Posted by Untasted

1) indeed barbacue and cattle is not the reason ��
2) you go too far with the climatology explanation, (Im not specialist in terms of it), but I only noticed ONE MAJOR PATTERN and that is the correlation that exist , the nearest countries to the artic and antartica , completely outside the tropical zone had a huge European Seatlement and migration
3) as for your argument about Argentina , Uruguay and Chile you sound just right ,BUT (as usual), people don't see the bigger picture , even with the crisis in the southern cone , these countries STILL did and do better than other Latin Americans countries (Because is not just economically) but also socialy, education, human rights, LGBT rights, safety.
4) more tropical countries are surpassing Argentina ?, Well you mean Mexico, Colombia or Peru,? (theyre also more populous than Argentina except Peru, their gdp can be larger but the prosperity of a country is not measured by it's gdp but by their gdp percapita), they do fine but their population are still very poor and their per capital income are lower...

Can you find another explanation ?

you are just not very well informed about the subject (not to say "not informed at all").


lets look at the figures.

Social standards: the countries with the lowest poverty rates in LatAm are: Chile, Uruguay, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico. Not Argentina. Mexico is not "very poor", is wealthier and has less poverty than Argentina. Argentina's economic crisis is having a huge impact on the population. Colombia or Peru aren't that much poorer than Argentina.

If we look at a few random health indicators, Mexico, Cuba or Costa Rica have a lower maternal mortality ratio than Argentina; Cuba and Costa Rica have a lower infant mortality than Argentina; Cuba, Costa Rica and Panama have a higher life expectancy than Uruguay and Argentina and Mexico has a higher expectancy than Argentina (sources are World Bank database and WHO).

Education: the best universities of LatAm according to the QS Latin American Ranking are located in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina (source). From the ones that made it to the top 300 of the World Ranking, one is located in Argentina (althought is the highest in the top), 2 are in Mexico, 2 in Chile, 2 in Brazil, 2 in Colombia.

Human Rights and related matters: in the Press Freedom Index by Reporters without Borders, only Costa Rica is listed as "good situation" in Latin America; Chile and Uruguay are in the "satisfactory situation"; and Argentina appears in the "noticeable problems" category along with most other LatAm countries. The most democratic countries in the region according to the Democracy Index are Uruguay and Costa Rica; then Chile, Panama and Argentina, in that order. In the Global Peace Index, the Southern Cone countries appear in the same category as Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Panama, CR and Nicaragua. I couldn't find a good Human Rights index map for a recent year.

LGTB rights: same sex marriage and lgbt adoption are legal in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and several Mexican states. Not (yet) in Chile.

Safety: the countries with the lowest homicide rate in LatAm in 2018 were, in that order, Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru, Panama, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.

There isn't consolidated or (very) reliable data about other types of crime, but, if we look at some charts like this one from Latinobarómetro poll, or this other one, by a report from the The UN office on drugs and crime, the Southern cone countries don't do very well.


As I said on earlier posts in this thread, it's far from true that the Southern Cone ranks as consistently as many people thinks in the top of social and economic development indicators in LatAm. Argentina especially lags behind on several indices.

[Schwartzmann]

There's a book called IQ and Global Inequality that says nations develop based largely on the average IQ's of their populations... the higher the IQ, the more developed the country. In Latin America, Uruguay and Argentina have higher IQs than the other countries of the region. Attached is a map that shows the average IQs by nation (color-coded).