OK, first the serious stuff.

Latin America and the Macroeconomic Forecast

Just over a year ago, things looked pretty gloomy down here as with most of the World. Demand took a nose dive and Latin America and the Caribbean exports dropped by more than a third in just six months. Oil had gone from $147 per barrel in July 2008 to $42 in February 2009. Prices for soybeans, wheat and copper also dropped dramatically. For a region where 90 percent of the population resides in a net commodity exporter nation, the plunging prices were destined to take a toll. Overall economic growth collapsed by more than 6 percent between 2007 and 2008. In some countries like Argentina, Costa Rica and Mexico, GDP contracted by more than 10 percent. Panama on the other hand was still growing through 2007 and had a small decrease in 2008 through 2009 but not nearly to the extent felt in neighboring nations. As in the past, while the global crisis spelled financial disaster elsewhere, this time around it did not affect this region to as great a degree. There were no bank collapses and no debt defaults. This was described in a recent report by the World Bank.

“Having learned from past experiences, the region was in a much stronger macroeconomic and financial situation when the crisis hit and it remains relatively strong as it comes out of the crisis,

Thanks to sounder financial regulation and supervision as well as improved monetary and fiscal policies, the region weathered the downturn much better than in the past and much better than other regions including Japan, Europe and the United States. Overall, Latin America has learned from its past and is on track toward a better future.
As such, the World Bank is convinced that the road to recovery is shorter for Latin America than for other nations.”

Panama

The impact in Panama of the whole international crisis has not been felt as it should be compared to the neighboring countries, never mind the United States and European countries that are really feeling the stress of the economic situation. There are several factors for this. First of all, Panama has a very sound and solid banking system. None of our banks failed during this crisis. The only bank that failed was Stanford bank, and that was because it is based in the United States. This is important to know, because we do have a very solid market in Panama. In addition to that, we are undertaking the expansion of the canal, a project that has and continues on schedule. President Ricardo Martinelli’s aggressive infrastructure expansion program including a Metro Transit System, the continued improvement of the highway system, new hospitals, and new airports will enable Panama to realize its plan to becoming the Capital of the Americas. And of course, the demand for jobs and the demand for services with these projects will maintain the economic growth.

I have said it in the past, if you look at the crisis that the United States and Europe is now entering, we will see that it will change pretty much everything. In the United States, Boomers will continue to be respected for their cultural achievements (it’s not a fluke of history that Boomer music and other entertainments are still wildly popular among the young), but will be increasingly ignored in the political debate. The term “senior citizen,” already in decline, will disappear entirely. And if push comes to shove, Boomer’s financial interests – including Social Security – will be subjugated “for the greater good.” While this change will entail a great deal of pain and a reduced standard of living for a large number of people, it will effect a change that will benefit Panama. Many people believe, including this author, that we will see the maturing Boomer generation facing the prospect of either going back to work at an older age where limited employment exists or many of them venturing outside the United States where they can have a better quality of life with the limited wealth that they have left to count on in their retirement years. Many will bring with them talents and professions that they can leverage in a new country to insure a continued quality of life and seek out new adventures at the same time. I am one of those people.

While Panama is not perfect or even close to it, It has a strong base and I would like you to see what I see in Panama’s future, the many attractions and why like other Boomers, I came to move to Panama, the country of my birth. So here is another reason why we came to Panama and have settled here permanently. See videos on Panama and more at www.panamaadvisorygroup.com

Social Community

Some people moved here to get away from it all and live in a remote area to enjoy that life style. We wanted to move into an area where we could be embedded in a the local community, both domestic and foreign and enjoy a full social life with new friends. We found that place in the sun and each day we thank God for leading us to this wonderful country and town we live in. Last weekend on Saturday night, we headed to a nearby restaurant for a gourmet meal before the opening night of a new production at the local theatre where our community players put on the play “Doubt” made famous by the movie with Meryl Streep.

After the show, we stopped back by for a night cap at the restaurant on the river, the moon and stars were out, a fire was crackling in the fire place (remember we live in the mountains) and we were just ecstatic that we had spent such a lovely evening. We had enjoyed such good company and we all commented about the better quality of life here, social life where friends regularly gather for a night out, parties, simple socials, whatever, things that on occasion we all did back home but not on such a routine basis and not at the cost of say $60 per couple for this incredible evening of enjoyment. Many of our friends back home would have to graciously take a pass as they are trying to stretch the dollar to cover necessities, and forget about the cost of doing this in a place like Miami where you would spend $60 on the bottle of Argentinean wine that we had at dinner which costs $15 down here. Boquete is our place in the sun www.escapetoboquete.com/

This weekend we started off with a Friday evening at the Boquete Jazz Festival. We are a natural host to the festival as the beautiful Chirqui Highlands has long been one of the favorite places to vacation and live and Boquete is the Jewel of Chiriqui. Chiriqui translates to “valley of the moon” and we saw a beautiful full moon greeting us at the door of the Valle Escondido Country Club in the community where we live.


While Boquete is made up of only 18,000 residents, there are those who have come from Australia, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Scotland, the USA, Canada, South Africa and many more places, making this a wonderful melting pot of different cultures and wonderful people with like mind attitudes about life. The Jazz festival has attracted artists from as far away as Europe and other parts of Latin America, Canada and the States. Boquete’s natural beauty is the perfect setting to stimulate the creative talent and artistic skills of those who visit. So it is not surprising that Boquete sponsors a festival of world class jazz.

This country has so many places like this and different venues to suit all tastes.

We are beginning our search anew for more opportunities to invest here in Panama and as it takes us to different areas, we are able to see what others have done, where they call home and the attractions to living there. The beauty is that we can stay on an extended basis in different areas and towns if we want, for as little as $30 per night, enjoy a local meal like red snapper, rice and salad for $4.50 with another 50 cents for a beer. There are endless miles of beach to walk, lagoons where you can snorkel, surf for the beginner and some areas reserved only for the brave. And yes, offshore lies some of the most fertile fishing waters in the world, my favorite!!

See you on our next adventure and remember, while your health and financial means allow, travel abroad at least once in your life. Then, once you are away from your familiar surroundings, look thoughtfully into the eyes of a stranger and then listen attentatively to the words he or she may speak. You will be exposed to new ways of doing and seeing things. It will be good for you.