Challenges

Democracy Education Employment and Social Security Environment Fiscal Problems Health Infrastructure Poverty/Inequality Public Administration Violence and Crime

The “Consulta de San Jose 2007 ” is being conducted by the Research Department of the Inter-American Development Bank in conjunction with the Copenhagen Consensus Center. The overall objective of this program is to assist the region in setting a clear and well-argued list of proposals for efficient solutions to some of the most important challenges facing the region. To accomplish the stated objective, the project will draw upon the experiences of the worldwide Copenhagen Consensus 2004, but adapt them to the Latin American and the Caribbean region.

A key aspect of the process is the identification of the major challenges facing the Latin American and the Caribbean region. Once the challenges are identified, a group of experts will write “solutions papers” and “alternative views” outlining the extent of the problem, the feasible solutions and their scope, and their costs and benefits. These papers will be subsequently submitted to a panel of highly esteemed economists, who will thoroughly discuss and rank the potential solutions during a rountable to be held in San Jose, Costa Rica between October the 21st and the 25th, 2007. At the end of the meeting, each panel member will make his or her individual ranking, and a collective standing is then constructed through the median ranking. The final ranking constitutes the set of problems that, in the opinion of the panel of economists, could be most efficiently addressed.