Guatemala: Bye bye 2008... Hello 2009.
To our readers, I thank you for your valuable support on 2008. We hope to meet you with varied opinions in 2009.
What is left after 2008
A global crisis: The world is changing; Prices in fuel and commodities increased more in 2008 than in 30 years, and they also plummeted. The world´s reaction to this was to change its consumption habits and products. They preferred to live a significant change in demand. This has forced big companies to reinvent themselvs or suffer the consequences. This has also given way to many opportunities for small and medium enterprises.
A bad decision in the U.S. policy in the nineties blew up in 2008, leading to the bankruptcy of several banks, including Lehman Brothers, and uncertainty in the global financial system.
In Guatemala, a government of poor results: This year was marked by a very difficult economic and social situation due to insecurity, unemployment and poverty. However, the national guideline was marked by a lack of guidelines. Between Plan "Esperanza" (Hope: word used by the government to describe itself) and its economic sub-plan, UNE (Guatemala's present government) presented a series of actions that although not without a clear denote of state interventionism, sought to make room for free competition and other important features of the market economy.
This past year, we learned that no conceptual guidelines or economic parameters are used by those who plan the country's economic growth. With UNE and the global crisis, Keynesian theories of state intervention resurfaced, and where poorly applied by our economic authorities. We cannot fail to mention that using a combination of two opposing theories (Protectionism and Free-Market) as though they are complementary, result in a very confusing approach to define minimum wage.
What We Should expect for 2009
Government: Stabilty and moderation. We ask the government for more consistency in the theory that exists and that is appropriate to Guatemala's reality, and beneficial to the sustainable development of all.
For all of us: Cooperation and careful spending. Do not expect to depend on others, we are becoming agents of change. 2009 is a year that can be classified as hard, full of challenges and opportunities for all Guatemalans to demonstrate smart, aggresive use of resources in the face of change.
What is left after 2008
A global crisis: The world is changing; Prices in fuel and commodities increased more in 2008 than in 30 years, and they also plummeted. The world´s reaction to this was to change its consumption habits and products. They preferred to live a significant change in demand. This has forced big companies to reinvent themselvs or suffer the consequences. This has also given way to many opportunities for small and medium enterprises.
A bad decision in the U.S. policy in the nineties blew up in 2008, leading to the bankruptcy of several banks, including Lehman Brothers, and uncertainty in the global financial system.
In Guatemala, a government of poor results: This year was marked by a very difficult economic and social situation due to insecurity, unemployment and poverty. However, the national guideline was marked by a lack of guidelines. Between Plan "Esperanza" (Hope: word used by the government to describe itself) and its economic sub-plan, UNE (Guatemala's present government) presented a series of actions that although not without a clear denote of state interventionism, sought to make room for free competition and other important features of the market economy.
This past year, we learned that no conceptual guidelines or economic parameters are used by those who plan the country's economic growth. With UNE and the global crisis, Keynesian theories of state intervention resurfaced, and where poorly applied by our economic authorities. We cannot fail to mention that using a combination of two opposing theories (Protectionism and Free-Market) as though they are complementary, result in a very confusing approach to define minimum wage.
What We Should expect for 2009
Government: Stabilty and moderation. We ask the government for more consistency in the theory that exists and that is appropriate to Guatemala's reality, and beneficial to the sustainable development of all.
For all of us: Cooperation and careful spending. Do not expect to depend on others, we are becoming agents of change. 2009 is a year that can be classified as hard, full of challenges and opportunities for all Guatemalans to demonstrate smart, aggresive use of resources in the face of change.
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