Brian Winter in Tyler Cowen's Podcast on Argentina, Brazil, and Latin America's Future

Brian Winter, vice president for policy at Americas Society/Council of the Americas and editor-in-chief at Americas Quarterly, joined the podcast "Conversations with Tyler" about Latin America's politics, economics, culture and even where to find the best churrasco.

Cowen asked Winter about Brazil's current economic stagnation. AS/COA's vice president responded by saying that he has been following the country for almost 20 years and he has actually seen progress.

"This is a country that has its challenges, but it is one of the hemisphere’s most solid democracies. It is a country that has lifted millions out of poverty over the last 20 years. It’s more of a middle-class country than it used to be," Winter said. 

Although Brazil's "economy doesn’t grow nearly enough," it’s a "better place than it was when I first started following it back in the 2000s," he added. Agriculture seems to be a more productive sector due to its "privileged location in the tropics and being able to have two harvests a year sometimes because of the climate and the soil," said Winter. 

"Over the last 20 years, this soy that used to travel over two-lane or even one-lane mud roads — at least now it’s paved in a lot of places. Some of these rail links are also improving. This is another area where, I think, if you take that longer-term perspective, things are getting a little bit better," he added.

Winter reflected on how Texas—where he is originally from—and Brazil share some commonalities, the most important being that both of them are "forward-looking."

"Brazil has always been about the future, sometimes to a fault. It’s not a place where people remember precedent, where they remember lessons of history. They’re focused on the future."

When talking about Argentina, Winter highlighted that even though "everything or almost everything in Argentina ends up being about past glory and past wealth," the country's "intellectual capital and firepower... is still very strong." The expert proceeded to talk about Mercado Libre and Globant as examples of successful Argentinian companies and entrepreneurs.

"What these founders will tell you is that, actually, starting their businesses in such an uncertain macroeconomic environment has made them incredibly lean, disciplined, and ready to go out into the world and dominate," said Winter.

Winter also talked about other Latin American countries, such as El Salvador and Colombia. When referring to El Salvador's Nayib Bukele and its influence in the region, the expert stated that "it remains to be seen how exportable [Bukele's] model is to other countries in the region." 

Listen to the full episode.