The emerging economies, although they did not experience the same problems, must take advantage of this opportunity to review their own situation, to draw lessons about what worked well or not, and to advance in the task of perfecting their financial systems. Chile’s institutional arrangements as regards financial stability have generally worked well in recent decades. This is borne out by the present strength of its financial system and the way in which it came through the recent crisis without major problems. But there are pending tasks and challenges. Large financial reforms may not perhaps be required but there is room for improvements in various areas. They include the need to create a mechanism for coordination and communication at the highest level with a focus on financial stability in which the government, the BCCH and the different financial sector supervisors participate. This would allow the BCCH to make its points of view known formally to the relevant authorities. Similarly, in a context in which financial activities have become increasingly complex, the bodies responsible for supervision need to be strengthened institutionally. From this point of view, particular attention should be paid to the resources assigned to them and their capacity to issue norms and regulation in a world that calls for constant adjustments and changes. Finally, it would be advisable for the BCCH to have a more active role in defining prudential regulation. In some cases, this role already exists but could be extended to other norms with systemic implications.
Analysis of the data from the experiment shows that those who moved to lower-poverty areas when they were 12 or younger were found to earn about 30 percent more, on average, in their early- to mid-twenties compared to those who did not move, were 27 percent more likely to have entered college, and 30 percent less likely to be a single parent. The MTO experiment again illustrates the importance of neighborhood effects on child development early in childhood. It also demonstrates that grants to move families to lower-poverty neighborhoods may reduce the intergenerational persistence of poverty. Of course, mobility of the sort that Chetty and other researchers have emphasized interacts in a very important way with the availability of affordable housing. Making high quality neighborhoods accessible to families from all socioeconomic backgrounds is a major challenge for public policy. Of course, illegal racial and other discrimination has played a role in preventing access to high-quality neighborhoods. However, part of the challenge arises from the fact that in a free-market economy, the quality of the environment is reflected in the price of land – and thus housing – in that place. This means that the neighborhoods with the best schools, the best access to jobs, shopping, recreation and other amenities will be the most desirable and will have the highest cost of land and housing. Simply put, families seeking the upward mobility that better neighborhoods can promote may well find that housing in these neighborhoods is unaffordable.