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Hi all – we are considering buying in Costa Rica — we love it there, but are concerned regarding the stability of the country in reference to Nicaragua and Argentina. Any thoughts on this?
Susan
I believe President Oscar Arias has made his direction crystal clear and that is nowhere near down the same path as Argentina. Confidence in Costa Rica is high, new real estate construction was up over 70% in 2006 in comparison with 2005 and new construction starts in Jan/Feb are already up 20% over 2006
Venezuela (with 882,050 sq km of land) is more than seventeen times larger than Costa Rica (with 50,660 sq km of land) and the population of Venezuela (25,730,435 July 2006) is six times larger than Costa Rica (4,075,261 July 2006).
However, Costa Rica’s GDP per capita is $12,000 (2006) which is 74% more than the GDP per capita of Venezuela which is $6,900 (2006)
According to the CIA country reports, people in Costa Rica live longer than the people in Venezuela.
The CIA also reports that the percentage of the population living below the poverty line in Venezuela is 37.9%, in Costa Rica it is only 18% and the infant mortality rate in Venezuela is 122% higher than in Costa Rica.
What Does This All Mean? Compared to Venezuela, the new born babies of Costa Rica have a much better chance of surviving and, adult Costa Ricans live longer, healthier, richer and happier lives.
There certainly is possible fallout from more increased poverty in Nicaragua but I believe that will have a minimal impact on Costa Rica.
Costa Rica is one of the most politically stable countries in all of Central & Latin America and people like WalMart don’t commit $50,000,000 this year alone to Costa Rica without believing in it’s stability.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLOveCostaRica.comWhile I agree withs Scott’s statement about stability (too much of the country’s income relies on tourism and instability would kill that), I would not use WalMart or any other large US retailer’s investment as an example.
In the US it is common for WalMart to build a large store and then just a few years later abandon it to build an even larger store a few miles away. Stores are also built by large chains in predatory marketing schemes and then abandoned when the competition is gone. Riteaid is infamous for building three pharmacies in a town to put all the small pharmacies out of business then closing two out of the three. What many people and businesses would think of as long term investment or infrastructure these companies treat as short term expenses.
The thing that Costa Rica has proven over the past three quarters century is regional instabilities do not have effect them.
I had a heated discussion with an investment client about this recently…
He is of the opinion that publicly traded companies should be loyal ONLY to their sherholders and to hell with everything else. Fire everyone! Move all their operations offshore to China, India and the Philippines – that’s OK as long as the shareholders make more money …
My argument was more along the lines of yes! It’s great to work hard for your shareholders but don’t we have some responsibility to the coommunities in which we do business? Should we not consider the future of those communities? The environment in which we do business? The future of the children of those shareholders perhaps? The future of the country? The future of our intellectual capital?
Capitalism can be a good thing but capitalism on steroids with a manic obsession for making money at any cost and to hell with everything else will in the end bring about the end of this ‘democracy.’
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comScott, I’m glad to see that your being involved in the investment world has still left your conscience intact. Most investment counselors know, companies have an obligation to the stockholder first and foremost. This however has been translated to profits and bottom line at all costs. Layoffs and cost cutting strategies that leave communities and people in financial ruin seem to be of less and less concern to corporations. The only thing they seem to care about is share price nowadays. Every time a stock gets beat up, another round of layoffs is sure to follow. With Halliburton now moving its CEO to Dubai, to bring him closer to the goldmine of the Middle East, more and more companies will be shifting locations and assests offshore for the tax benefit, and dump the tax burden on the middle class once again.
I have no problem with corporate profits. They have made America into the financial powerhouse that it is. But now with the new world economy, it looks like the loyalty to the people that supported and worked for these entities will be forgotten in the name of higher profits.
This is just my opinion, for what it’s worthpublicly held corporations are mandated by law to make a profit for their shareholders. nothing else matters — take a look at big pharma for perfect examples of raping and plundering by putting out bad drug after bad drug to make enormous profits for the shareholders at the expense of the lives and health of the people who gobble all those worthless drugs. walmart, riteaid, etc are no different.
Maraviila, With regard to your first sentence, I thank you for clarifying my point. It is a corporation’s “mandate” to be responsible for a profit to the shareholder.
Where we part company,where big pharma is concerned, is, I take a good guy, bad guy approach. In certain instances of trauma, drugs can save lives. We both know and have to admit it is proven. During heart attacks and strokes there are drugs (clot busters) to return normal blood flow to the heart and brain. Antibiotics are a good example of life savers as well. Some vaccines have done well also. Not that these are without side effects.
We do share the opinion that raping and plundering by putting out bad drugs that are not fully tested is a bad thing. The drug companies use federal monies for R&D, not their own, but get to keep all the profits, except for taxes. But then again, they hire the best tax attorneys they can. They “bribe” doctors by sending them on exotic trips, A fact I know firsthand. They Give away sporting events tickets, I’ve seen the sign up sheets in a doctor’s office, along with all the free samples they provide for the doctors to give away to their patients. This practice is coming under government control for about the past year and it hopefully will go away.
We can’t hang all the blame on big pharma. A government, not responsive to the needs of its citizenry, is also to blame. The FDA should also be looked into for their diligence, or lack thereof, in investigating thoroughly, all new drugs before they are approved.yes, alfred, you are right. i´ve been investigating big pharma and it´s incestuous relationship to the fda for ten years. even wrote a book about it. i am one of the people responsible for the new suicide and homicide warnings on a whole class of drugs, totally unproven, and bogus to boot. unless i were bleeding from every orifice i would never take a pharmaceutical that had not been on the market for 20 years. i wonder if the shareholders of merck or eli lily care about the havoc these companies wreak on an unsuspected citizenry who thinks their doctors know everything and the pharmaceutical companies care whether they get better or not. such is the conundrum we are in — some drugs are lifesavers; others are killers. thankfully, they are not doling out those mind-altering drugs to the pediatric population in costa rica.
Maravilla, I want to commend you on your research and the writing of a book. I wasn’t aware of this, and sometimes thought you came off as someone who just hated drug companies and was getting information off the Internet. This adds a great deal of credibility to your arguments. I respect anyone who does due diligence and doesn’t just shoot from the hip.
All good intentions of drug manufacturers, and other companies as well, goes out the window once huge profits are there to be made. It appears the motive for making money compromises ones ability to think compassionately and clearly.
The days of the healing arts being practiced as an honorable profession are seemingly disappearing. There are, I am sure, many doctors and research scientists that still have the patient and individual’s health as a priority. The few that do what they do for profit alone can taint the entire field of curing and preventing disease.I don’t remember how we got from “reservations regarding buying in Costa Rica” to drug companies, but it has been interesting conversation.
I have read maravillas fascinating book and we have swapped numerous emails on this sad state of affairs.
Contrary to their sickly sweet advertising campaigns, they are not in the business of caring for people or even healing people, they are in the business to make money – Period. Unfortunately the same can be said for a big percentage of doctors too..
If they found a natural remedy cure for AIDS tomorrow it would probably be supressed because A: Few people would make money with it and B: The news would literally destroy a whole group of stocks in that sector.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comScott, I don’t think anyone has any real idea how CAFTA(TLC) will fully affect any industry in CR. Remember when Pacheco appointed the committee to try to interpret the document and they came away with a mixed and confused feeling about it? The impact of the agreement will depend on what CR does once they adopt it. If they ever do. If they just let another nation come in unhampered and take over every industry, they will lose their sovereignty. The basis for accepting any treaty or agreement should be if the country accepting it is getting a distinct benefit from it. If there are too many questions about it, it might be best for CR to try to renegotiate the treaty or simply not come on board.
We have all seen what NAFTA has brought. I don’t think anyone has benefited. Mexico still has poverty, and thousands trying to cross into the US. Canada doesn’t seem to be much better off, but at least they are not running into the US. The US has lost manufacturing jobs to US companies that have gone to do business in Mexico. So, I don’t think this was a big winner for anyone… Except some companies that wanted a cheaper labor force. You can use most favored nation status given to China as well for this. Some people blame it for NAFTA not being a success.
Until wages worldwide reach some sort of parity, these agreements will only continue to serve a minority of people and companies.Just my opinion.
Might be a simplistic way to look at it but some skeptics believe that if the US government believes it’s a good deal, it must be – but only for them!
And not necessarily for the other parties involved and isn’t it shame that it’s so damned complicated that EVERYBODY says the same thing – that they are “confused.”
I don’t know about you but I don’t sign anything unless it’s CRYSTAL CLEAR, I certainly would not agree to anything that I thought was confusing.
Scott Oliver – Founder
WeLoveCostaRica.comScott, I have to agree with you on some of those points. Natural remedies will always be suppressed, because they cannot be patented. If you can’t patent it, the profit motive is removed by the competition of other companies being able produce it.
Oddly enough, many medications have their basis in natural forms such as plants. The drug companies synthesize these compounds in order to patent them, thereby eliminating competition… Lovely huh.
I still think there are some scientists working for drug companies that are compassionate and do not have a profit motive. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but I like to think there are some decent people left in this world.
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