Center for National Economic Research

We begin our day by meeting with Sigfrido Lee of the neoliberal economic think-tank CIEN. It is our first day-time foray into one of the wealthier areas of the city, and the contrast is striking, with wide streets, tree-lined roads, and western franchise businesses. The view from the conference room's 17th-storey picture window is also our first view of Guatemala's stunning mountains.

Dr. Lee helped us to understand some of Guatemala's important statistics:

• Area: 80,000 sq. mi.
• Pop: 12 million
• Per capita annual income: $1,600
• The largest population in poverty in all of Central America, yet also its richest country -- one of the worst distributions of income worldwide.
• Very low and stable inflation rate (below 10%) (national income is 25 billion dollars), has one of the worst distributions of income worldwide, and has low inflation rate (<10%)