Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has made real gains over recent decades in education, health, democratic governance, and poverty reduction. The region, however, remains stuck. Not because progress is absent, but because advances in some areas consistently fail to connect with advances in others. The result is a region where partial gains rarely add up to sustained improvements in living standards.

PROGRESS WITHOUT DIRECTION

A small number of countries including Chile, Costa Rica, and Uruguay, combine effective institutions, broad access to public services, and relatively strong business environments. They show that higher prosperity is achievable within the region's constraints.