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Over the past month, Latin America has seen two high-profile nationalizations of Spanish-owned companies. In Argentina, Cristina Kirchner announced the expropriation of a majority stake in her country’s biggest oil firm, YPF. A few weeks later, Bolivia’s Evo Morales seized TDE, which operates most of his nation’s electricity lines. To a casual observer of regional affairs, the decisions by Morales and Kirchner might appear to suggest that Latin America is still characterized by destructive economic populism.

But look closer: The economic policies of Argentina and Bolivia are notable mainly for being so out of sync with the more responsible, pro-market policies embraced by regional heavyweights such as Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.