Can Chile Lead Latin America's Brain Boom?

We are living in an age of unprecedented optimism about Latin America's economic future. Countries such as Panama and Peru have experienced China-level growth. Tens of millions of Brazilians have escaped from poverty. A majority of Mexicans now belong to the middle class. Colombia is being hailed as a potential "Latin American tiger." Chile has the fastest-growing economy in the OECD. According to the United Nations, the regional poverty rate in Latin America and the Caribbean has fallen to a three-decade low. Upward mobility has rapidly increased, and income inequality has rapidly declined. But despite the growth and poverty reduction of the past decade, Latin America has made relatively little progress in boosting its capacity for scientific and technological innovation.