Chile, the best economy in Latin America, the one that has made the most important changes in its indicators in the last 35 years, related to growth, GDP, foreign investment, opening of markets, reduction of poverty, is now thinking about modifying the model, correcting it, altering it, why? What is it that most people seem to want to do something like this? Have we lost our minds? Some of the leaders of this whole golden age, of the 90s-2010, as it has been called, have even disowned their success, have felt ashamed of what they have achieved, instead of defending that period, they disown what they have achieved.
Some figures obtained from the World Bank illustrate the above, Chile’s GDP in 1960 was US$ 4.1 trillion (billions) in 2020 this same index reached US$ 270 billion, expressed in 2020 dollars. The GDP/capita in turn varied from US$ 505 in 1960 to US$ 13,232 in 2020, the Chilean population varied in the same period from 8.1 million in 1960 to 19.2 million in 2020.
These results are what has put us at the top of the class in the Latin American context. However, something is happening that these winds of change are holding and gaining strength. It is therefore obvious to state that at the heart of these possible decisions there are aspects that are a little more complex. In my opinion, they are closely related to the expectations generated by the people regarding the changes that progress would bring and the lack of decision or consequence at the time of voting laws, approving budgets and managing to put resources aside from speeches. A lot of progress was made, that is indisputable, but after this time a better result was expected, there are human variables of happiness and wellbeing that we wanted as a population and that were not fulfilled.
We have carried out studies and diagnoses on many occasions, thousands of hours have been paid to consultants who propose good ideas and make solid recommendations for the most complex problems, health, education, pensions, however, when even the initiatives to be carried out were already part of the government programmes, accompanied by promises and illusions, despite this, they were trapped in years of paperwork, approvals and budget allocations that ended up delaying the initiative for years or even not being carried out at all.
This is an important part of the problem, so now the economic system is collapsing, not so much because the market system is bad, it can be corrected and work well, the problem is that we promised and did not deliver and many people, the majority, have waited on the edge of poverty to achieve lifelong dreams, a house of their own, a decent pension, quality health care and they are getting old, change is not coming. Their children are already disillusioned, they have grown up listening to the hope of their parents, they see that the only thing that comes for them is grey hair and wrinkles, but the daily need to work, pay bills, credits, more debts, fewer freedoms and what was finally going to arrive, is still delayed, despite the countless promises.
This delay can easily be confused with state neglect, forgetfulness, procrastination, this is largely the anger that is expressed and that leads people to protest, to look for alternatives, to look for different models of development that can be faster and fairer in achieving an adequate correlation between effort and achievement. This is one of the most obvious maxims of a capitalist system, the American dream, that is the promise at the end of the day. You try hard and you achieve. People are very pragmatic in the 21st century, this is not the time of the great utopias of the 1960s.
So, given the political instability that is now generated by the protests, the chessboard continues to move and now comes the time for capital to seek other horizons. Capital flight in Chile this year 2021 has been more than US$ 50,000 million, the highest in 10 years, companies withdraw dividends, pay their shareholders to do what they want with their money. This withdrawal of money from companies compromises investments that could be made in 2022, there will be no liquidity to make investments, which will have effects on future employment and growth.
Investors previously so interested in Chile are now looking for other horizons, given that the scenario here is more uncertain and the funds may not yield what is required of them… This is where an aspect that I do not see present today should come in, and in my opinion, it is called Ethics.
There is a difference between a commercial hunting ground (market) and a country, both occupy a territory, in both you can hunt rents, you can compare one market versus the other, which one is better and more profitable. But when an investor sees a country, from my perspective he should also see its people, he should see the resources and the years that have been useful for him and his companies to make the capital that he now wishes to protect, it is not something that should be so easy to simply move, I am not talking about regulations but about principles. There is something in Chile, the origin of his capital, that allowed him to obtain that profit that now places him in a preferential position, shouldn’t he simply think that it is possible to give something back? to support in difficult times? “The market is cruel”, said former president Aylwin in one of his very heartfelt statements during his years as president 1990-1994.
The ethics of a businessman should lead him to reflect on how he can help his country in difficult times, and if necessary, pay more taxes in order to give back in part what the country as the sum of territories, culture, resources, opportunities, as well as its people, were able to help, so that he, with his intelligence, helped it to emerge.
Being an entrepreneur is a very exciting and noble activity, we are all entrepreneurs at the end of the day, given that to undertake a business is to generate and follow an idea and implement it to the end. Some entrepreneurs may be more successful than others, because they are more persevering, luckier or bolder and have been able to implement ideas before their competition. It is very necessary to have successful entrepreneurs and there are many of them, there is no doubt about that. It is obvious that there are also limits and there is no doubt that the authority must be able to control that they are not exceeded, especially in anti-competitive actions that unfortunately are done, that can lead to illicit enrichment and that destroy those who strive to do things well. These are the rules of the game and they must be respected.
Today Chile is in a moment of decision, probably at a turning point, where changes are being sought to correct, which may be for some, to modify the model for others, to change the way of dealing with problems. Apart from that, it is necessary to make our society more humane, more empathetic, more supportive, that gives dignity and respects its people, that defends its inhabitants from abuses, recovers its habitat and environment and gives the best for the integral progress of people, especially children, but that these are not empty concepts, but must be full of intention, actions and economic resources. For this, our country needs all of us.
There are millions of us who get up every day to honestly make the best effort to improve and help with this attitude to make this country better, bigger and more successful, that is what we get up for and that is what we work for every day.
