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The role of financial markets in economic development of Latin American countries, including reducing poverty, is discussed.

The role of banks in Latin America to provide consumer finance to low-income people to uplift them as well as improve the economy is discussed.

The Australian federal budget's recycling, rather than redistribution, of income is generally helping the social security of the middle class, but is doing nothing to help the needy. Many middle class households earning $20,000-30,000 a year pay huge taxes, which the government returns to them as social security payments. Such payment programs used to fluctuate with unemployment rates, but payments have remained steady as unemployment has declined. As a result, the remaining needy are not receiving their share of social security.

Developing countries are responsible for giving the microcredit concept an excellent reputation. State governments have tried to duplicate global success stories by helping their poor residents with loans for their new businesses. Many new entrepreneurs have failed because they lack the skills for setting up a business under American economic conditions.

'I certainly don't expect an improvement in productivity in the 1990s' Higher taxes and low productivity will cut into incomes. A decade ago I predicted that during the 1980s the [...]