There is no doubt that in the last 60 years the economic environment in Latin America and the Caribbean, and of course around the world, has changed considerably. For example, central banks’ functions have evolved throughout these six decades.
In the later years of the long expansion that ended with the pandemic, the benefits of employment continued to spread more widely and to reach those at the margins of the economy. Prior to the pandemic, unemployment was at 50 year lows. Wages had been moving up, and meaningfully so, especially on the lower ends of the pay scale.