Market Access Archives - Americas Quarterly

Combating Youth Unemployment in Peru

Youth unemployment rates are near 20 percent in some areas of Peru, and not coincidentally, gang activity also is on the rise. It is a situation that cannot be ignored and one which President Ollanta Humala pledged to address during the campaign. His solution: combat gangs by promoting job training. This August, just weeks after … Read more

How to Protect and Defend Free Trade

The expansion of global trade in recent decades has contributed significantly to economic growth and poverty reduction throughout the Western Hemisphere. Fueling this trade expansion were two major structural changes in the global economy: the globalization of manufacturing processes and an unprecedented increase in the trade of services and outsourcing across borders. With the onset … Read more

Maturing Microfinance

Two decades ago, most articles on microfinance would have begun with a detailed definition of the concept and an explanation of why the provision of microcredit was fundamental to microenterprise and economic development. Today however, microfinance has become a household term that, generally speaking, describes the provision of financial services (mainly loans, savings and insurance) … Read more

Latin America’s Middle Income Trap

Latin America’s recent economic success carries with it the risk of complacency among the region’s policymakers. Economic growth during 2003–2007 was the highest in the region since the adoption of neoliberal policies in the early 1980s. Most of South America seems to be well on the road to recovery from the global financial crisis, while … Read more

From Tradition to Trade

Uriel Arroyo is a ceramics producer from Capula, a small community in Michoacán, Mexico, whose family-run business used a centuries-old method to craft clay table- and cookware. Arroyo, like roughly 10,000 artisanal ceramacists across Mexico, used lead-oxide glaze to finish his pieces. Now, with the help of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and Mexican public agencies, Arroyo … Read more