Ten fallacies about Latin America's social problems

Abstract

This paper focuses 10 of the most important current fallacies that spread a distorted view of Latin America's social problems and of their causes. Those fallacies can bring about great mistakes when adopting social policies, perpetuating backwardness and creating obstacles to the solution of the serious problems faced by the region. Social policy can be the key to action against inequality, providing a minimal structure of indispensable goods and services for the population and thus contributing to bring new opportunities and interrupt vicious circles. The paper discusses the urgency in designing a new generation of social policies, closely articulated with the economic policies, that will actually prioritize social goals. This is an ethical and historically lucid demand.