ABSTRACT
Despite being the fourth-largest continent in terms of population and third-largest in land area, Latin America (which here is defined to include Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean) is often the forgotten region of the emerging world. This may be because it is neither the slowest-growing region nor the fastest. Real per-capita income in Latin America has doubled over the last 45 years, which looks good relative to many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa where incomes have been stagnant, but pales in comparison to many Asian countries such as South Korea where per-capita incomes have increased by a factor of 15. Latin America continues to grow but at a rate slower than emerging market economies in general. In 2011, it grew at a rate of 4.2 percent, smaller than the 6.3 percent average rate among all emerging market economies.
