Chile Forum

VISA Cirrus system I believe, 1% exchange fee plus I get a $1 USD fee per withdrawal (its a Visa card serviced via another company). Even after you factor fees its still off by a minimum of 10-15 pesos.



It looks more stable over 600 now so we'll see today when I go get cash for rent.

I would complain to the issuing bank, first reverify the fees though as they may have changed. The Ts&Cs might easily be found online or as an additional change notice to your online statement many months back.

STUDY: CHILEANS SEEM COMMITTED TO CAPITALISM

Monday, 09 March 2009
The majority of Chileans are committed free-market capitalists, according to a recent survey on economic attitudes
carried out by the survey center of Chilean daily newspaper, La Tercera. The survey involved just over 400 respondents.

The results of the survey, published March 8, were surprising to some economists, especially when considered in the
light of the current economic crisis. Although many analysts have argued that free-market capitalism is a root cause of
the global economic meltdown, the majority of Chileans (63 percent, up from 58 percent last year) fully support Chile’s
current economic model: an open economy, freedom of international trade, and private investment. This support is most
marked amongst men, 72 percent of whom claimed to support free market economics.

There were some interesting answers when respondents were asked to answer questions related to the economic crisis.
Generally, respondents felt the government was doing a good job of handling the crisis. They were asked to give a score
1 (lowest) to 7 (highest) for various public figures. They gave President Michelle Bachelet 5.1, Minister of Finance,
Andres Velasco 5.0, and the Central Bank 4.8.

Despite President Bachelet’s words last week that Chile was one of the best prepared countries in the world to face the
economic crisis, only a third (34 percent) of survey respondents agreed. The majority believed that the country is only
“averagely” prepared. Although 42 percent believe that the country is currently in an economic crisis, they feel that it will
get better.

Asked to rank what issues were most important in the current economic climate, 24 percent put falling salaries in first
place, 22 percent that the rising prices of essential goods was the biggest problem, and another 22 percent thought that
debt was the biggest problem facing Chileans. Job creation was an overwhelming concern for most of the respondents,
with 43 percent saying the government’s main priority should be the creation of work. A huge 77 percent believe that the
labor situation in Chile is less stable than a year ago.

Unsurprisingly, economic issues are closely tied to political ones in the minds of voters. Seventy-six percent said that
economic issues would be important in determining whom they would vote for in the upcoming presidential elections in
December. And this bodes well for Alliance candidate Sebastian Piñera: 48 percent of those questioned believe that he
would be the best person to manage the country in the current crisis.

From the 1950s until the early 70s, Chile suffered from high inflation and weak growth. Following the military coup in
1973, the country began its movement towards free market capitalism, with the military government selling many state-
owned companies. The four democratic governments since 1990 have continued privatization, though at a slower pace.
The government's role in the economy is mostly limited to regulation, although the state continues to operate copper
giant CODELCO copper company and a few other enterprises.

SOURCE: LA TERCERA
By Cathal Sheerin (santiagotimes.cl)

Kind of a shallow assessment of a about a million way more complicated issues. On the other hand, you can only cover so much in a short article.

One thing that stands out in that article however is the complete lack of attempt to answer what sort of government / economy do they support. Is it communism? Is it socialism?

I think you would find that they are measuring apples and oranges in the terms they are using. Much of population when pressed would likly say something along the lines of socialism. What that really means in Chile though is something else. It means they want capitalism, but they also want more social security. Not the same thing as saying (what the article seems to be trying to imply), that Chile is some sort of communist country struggling to change to capitalism. It is also not Venezuela, or Brazil, or any of the other Latin American countries where socialism is more of a political friendly term for dictators or corruption. In Chile today, "socialism" really just means social programs, social safety nets. It is not nationalizing companies or some silly buisness like that. It simply means Chile is developing, and developed countries provide services to their people.

Buffet thinks we are over the edge, and the next shoe to drop will be inflation:
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/ ... dChannel=0

Well, USD/CLP exchange swings from a high of ~615 or so back down to 590. I'm assuming mostly because of this "rally" in stocks? So if things REALLY went well in the stocks for consecutive weeks the peso could, theoretically, be driven down towards below 500? What are the chances that we see 500 and sub-500 CLP/USD rates in 2009?

I'd guess the opposite, Greg: if the American equity markets do well, international investors will be attracted. Their need to buy dollars should push the dollar upward -- much the same as pushing the Chilean peso upward when international buyers want more copper or fresh fruit.

yea, I don't think 500 is really possible without literally breaking the central bank. Chile just does not have that much money to move counter say even a modest U.S. stock market rally. Now, the dead cat bounce I think we are in the middle of, will likly have a whole lot more to do with this. I would expect a lot of profit taking going either the end of today, or next week. Throw in perhaps some bad news on some front, and we could be seeing the suckers rally right now much earlier than everyone predicted on the forum. Which is a good thing. It might mean that we are finally starting to work through some of the real problems, and the dow will say drop another 1000 points and finally find a bottom.

My fear is that investors are already so beaten, and I mean really beaten, that a dead cat bounce for many might be the final straw that makes them leave the market for a long time. Thus, we watch a slow painful drip drip drip back up above something like 9,000 from the bottom over a year or more.

Looks like the Chinese are starting to swing that big hammer they've got (USD reserves) or at least they're thinking about it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/fina ... debt..html

Working through the real problems? JAAA!! Yeah if you believe the MSM.

Maybe a dead cat bounce that reverses first thing next week, maybe not.

Or maybe the first signs that all that paper is slowly but finally starting to re-inflate things which I guess cold be considered a success if avoiding a deflationary depression was the objective. If so, get ready for the hyper-inflationary ride of your life for the next 5 years or so.

Kudos to those making bets with their own honestly earned funds.

yea, out of the woods we are not by any stretch of the imagination. I think I would call it more the second, third, fourth, of fifth chapter (kind of loosing track) saga of "the End of Western Civilization".

They still are not dealing with the root cause. No one is doing anything about the foreclosures.

As I posted on another thread, I am trying to unload a condo in Las Vegas. Yesterdays nation wide foreclosure report had vegas at the top of the list with nearly 1 in 66 houses in some state of foreclosure, as compared to 1 in 400 nation wide.

We still have not fully stepped in to the commercial real estate market collapse. The trump plaza in Vegas filing for bankruptcy was likly the first sign that things where starting to unwind in the commercial market. Trump seems to always be the canary in the cole mine, because his buisness investments are always fairly questionable in a good economy.