A high and sustained economic growth and a marked improvement in social development have been the most distinctive characteristics of the Chilean economy since the 90s; noteworthy was the reduction of poverty. The governments since 1990 supplemented growth-oriented economic policies with focused social policies and an enhancement in investment in human capital, coupled with a liberalization of the economy. Although growth slowed down at the end of the 90’s due to external factors1 and the first years of the 2000s, a period of economic recovery was experienced since 2004 and in 2009 a slow down of the economy is expected, as the international economy has experienced a severe financial crisis since September, 2008. This has meant a GDP growth of 5.5% in the last 17 years and an expected growth in the region of 2-3% in 20092, higher than the average of Latin America and the world3, based on the macroeconomic fundamentals that created the sustained growth since the 90’s.
