| Headline: IDB meetings go banana-shaped Source: Euromoney Date: April 2001 Author: Felix Salmon
It was expected that there would be lots of optimism about Mexico and its investment-grade credit rating, optimism too about the surprisingly smooth way in which the Peruvian elections seem to be panning out, and positive noises about a US soft landing and the way in which Argentina, with the help of the IMF, was attempting to extricate itself from economic stagnation. It didn’t quite work out like that. Chile did its bit, to be sure: riot police vastly outnumbered the small groups of foolhardy protesters, who were dealt with in typically forthright fashion. But the US didn’t manage to step up to the plate: plunging stock markets and talk of forthcoming recession got everybody worried about the rest of the hemisphere, especially Mexico. One of the biggest worries was that far from rebounding quickly, the US would have a “banana-shaped” recovery. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||