An anxious role model

FOR the past quarter of a century Chile has stood out from its Latin American neighbours, enjoying political stability and faster economic growth. The centre-left Concertación coalition that ruled from 1990 to 2010 preserved the free-market economy it inherited from General Pinochet’s dictatorship but gradually added better social provision. When the centre-right won power under Sebastián Piñera in 2010, it acted much like the Concertación and began to regulate market abuses.

To many outside observers Chile remains an admirable success story. Public debt and inflation are low. Only one Chilean in ten lives in poverty, while infant mortality is not much above that in the United States. Santiago, the capital, is laced not just with urban motorways but also with metro lines.