As we have seen here in Panama, the growing middle class is is a huge new consumer base that is helping to fuel the economic growth throughout Latin America.
The irony, as laid out in a recent report by the International Monetary Fund, is that history’s traditional No. 1 consumer, the United States, is still sputtering from the economic crisis as consumer confidence remains frail. The worldwide recovery is instead driven by emerging economies, with Asia in the lead along with several South American countries, the report said.