Better Spending for Better Lives: How Latin America and the Caribbean Can Do More with Less

Public spending has climbed in Latin America and the Caribbean. Riding a commodity windfall and low interest rates, many governments in the region tried to spend their way into the future. Unfortunately, the party is over and policymakers must find a way to keep their economies growing and their citizens happy in a fiscally sustainable manner. The traditional answer to this moment of truth has been to simply cut spending across the board. This book suggests there is another way out. Even if governments need to spend less in aggregate, the same or even more services can be provided if ways are found to be smarter about spending, to be more efficient, in short, to make every penny count.