September 22, 2011
Santiago, Chile

[Editor's note: Dr. John Cobin from Chile is filling in while Simon is in the jungle.]

One of Chile's daily papers, El Mercurio, featured an article last Sunday summarizing the findings of a key report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

To the surprise of many, Chile turns out to be a leader in a number of important categories.

The El Mercurio article was entitled: "We Chileans lead the world in hours worked, fruit exports and water purity." And those are just a few of the important items mentioned. Here are some of the highlights:


First, Chileans work more hours (2,068 hours per year per employee) than anyone in the world besides people in South Korea and Greece. What is more, after falling in 2009 and 2010, Chilean work productivity rose 3% in 2011.

Second, according to the Financial Development Report of the OECD, among those countries in the world with high middle incomes per capita, Chile was ranked in second place in the category of banking system stability.

Third, Chileans have many reasons to be proud of their medical care system, which has helped generate the highest life expectancy in Latin America and has minimized problems with children's malnutrition. The country has more medical school graduates than Israel or Japan and, equal with the United States, boasts 6.5 doctors per 100,000 inhabitants.

Fourth, Chilean has some of the cleanest water in the world, ranked alongside of Holland and Switzerland in this category. Chile is in the top ten in sewage treatment, beating out the United States, Canada and Sweden. Having a good water system greatly reduces potential disease problems and helps recoup public spaces near the ocean shoreline, lakeside areas and river banks.



Dr. Cobin's book, Life in Chile: A Former American's Guide for Newcomers, is the most comprehensive treatise on Chilean life ever written, designed to help newcomers get settled in Chile. He covers almost ever topic imaginable for immigrants. This knowledge is applied in his valet consulting service, where he guides expatriates through the process of finding a place to live and settle in Chile, helping them glide over the speed bumps that they would otherwise face in getting their visas, setting up businesses, buying real estate, investing in Chilean stocks or gold coins, etc. Dr. Cobin offers a 30-day money back guarantee and you can pick up a copy of his book here.


Fifth, Chilean fruit is now famous all across the world. The National Society of Agriculture highlighted that more Chilean grapes are sold than those from any other place on earth.

Chile leads the world in exports of plums, avocados and blueberries, and is in the top five countries for exports of cherries and apples. Local wines are also world leaders, being bested only by European and South African producers.

Furthermore, Chile ranks among the top five exporters of pork products in the world. Remember, Chile has everything California has to offer for agriculture and more.


Sixth, Chile led all Latin American countries in the category of Internet penetration with 42%. Uruguay and Argentina registered 34%, while Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica and Peru came in at 21% (according to a study by Havas Digital sponsored by the BBC). Moreover, Chile shares the distinction (along with Argentina and Venezuela) of having 100% cellular telephone penetration.

Seventh, Chile was ranked first in Latin America and one of the best overall in the world for competitiveness (according to a study by the World Economic Forum). Chile was tied for first place in the world for controlling inflation and holds sixth place in controlling public debt.

Its quality of institutions was found to be excellent. Public finance is healthy, people have confidence in public policies and government actions tend to be transparent.

The government does not pay agricultural subsidies, helping Chile earn a ranking of tenth place in this category around the world, and there are hardly any entry barriers caused by import tariffs.

Chile also features a good business banking environment, notably in its well-developed loan and credit market. Competitive businesses in Chile have a chance to thrive, and that is good news for Chile's future.


Finally, curiously, 39% of Chile people over the age of 15 are single. This figure is equaled in South Korea, but both countries have a much higher figure than most other countries like Mexico (33%), Spain (30%), New Zealand (30%), Slovakia (30%), France (29%) or Brazil (30%). The OECD country average is 26%.

Chile also has a relatively low percentage of married people (also 39%), and a relatively high percentage of people who live together, are widowed, separated or divorced (22%).

Thus, for those seeking to be married, Chile could be fertile ground for finding a mate given that such a high percentage of people are not married.

All of these things help make Chile an attractive place to live or have as a home base. At the very least these things should make any businessman stop and take notice of the potential opportunities that the country affords.

In the Age of Turmoil, places like Chile make great sense as a place to plant sustainable (or resilient) communities, or to have a second home which serves as an escape hatch from ever-imposing First World economic misery.


Dr. John Cobin

Read more posts on Sovereign Man »