We have seen time and again that markets, and the individual investors and institutions that make markets, can over-react to specific events in the short run. But in the long run, they accurately reflect the economic fundamentals. As such, they have proved themselves to be an indispensable discipline for firms and countries to get their policies right. As we look at the fundamentals in Latin America, we can see that there is no reason to abandon the market model. Growth remains solid.
Inflation continues to decline.
Private capital flows continue strong. The financial structure of the region is much improved. When viewed in a longer perspective, the performance of Latin America's stock markets is quite favorable. Despite its sharp drop over the past few months, Brazil's Bovespa today is still more than twice as high as it was four years ago, in December 1993. Indeed, in this respect, Bovespa has significantly outperformed the Dow-Jones index.