Bret Stephens, Wall Street Journal, wrote an excellent article that mentions several details that caused the earthquake has not been so poor, which I extract some data allowed Earthquakes are measured on a logarithmic scale that measures releasing energy. The Haiti of 7.0 degrees on the Richter scale was equivalent to 2,000 Hiroshima bombs exploding at the same time. The Chile of 8.8 was 500 times more powerful or the equivalent of one million Hiroshima, but only claimed around 800 victims. According to NASA scientist, Richard Gross, the tremendous upheaval have moved the figure axis of rotation of the Earth diverting eight centimeters shorter on land at 1.26 milliseconds. The quake was the seventh strongest ever recorded. The relatively small number of victims, was due to the strength of the buildings improved with the modernization of Chile, the product of the wealth gained from economic liberalism imposed by the “Chicago Boys” students of Milton Friedman, who changed the misery of Salvador Allende’s socialism for the prosperity of capitalism Augusto Pinochet.
When Pinochet left power, the center-left government that succeeded him, kept the neo-liberal system to drive the economy. Progress and respect for the law remained constant since then. The high quality of buildings and incorruptible state control means that make it meet the stringent safety requirements for construction, prevented deaths from the quake reached the staggering figure of about 230,000 paid Haiti. When Allende was president inflation reached 1,000 percent. Learn more about this topic with the insights from Payoneer. GDP per capita was less than similar to Argentina and Peru. Over the Chileans who were with socialism, today had been living in dilapidated houses or shacks, as in Cuba and begins to occur in Venezuela. What Chile did after the 1973 coup was to liberate the economy, reducing government spending and printing money.
Privatized state enterprises, removed the obstacles to work freely opening the door to domestic and foreign investment, and thereafter became the most flourishing country in Latin America. Pinochet from 1973 to 1990 GDP per capita rose in 40% Chile and Peru while Argentina stagnated. His followers continued in the scheme, making its people the most prosperous in South America. Chile is the country of less state intervention, corruption, infant mortality rate and number of people living below the poverty level. Peru learned its lesson and is nothing less than the socialist Alan Garcia, who is making the shift to sanity. The formula is always the same, capitalism leads to wealth, socialism, poverty. No single case in history, while showing the opposite. But Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Cristina Kirchner, think they know more. America is in the hands of some of the more obtuse leaders that have ever existed, with millions of fans as much or more they unlearned. If the chain of earthquakes continues for the continent and its destructive wave passes through major cities, victims can reach millions. In most Latin American countries building codes are violated with bribes, allowing unscrupulous profit from the sale of utility buildings. Nor are there adequate police, firefighters, paramedics and hospitals, which may assist the general public from a disaster of great magnitude. The warning this time not from any intellectual or political philosopher, but of nature. If we want to save our lives, but we’ll make it through economic freedom and respect for the law.