In recent weeks, fears of a worldwide economic recession have become widespread because more and more symptoms appear that resemble those at the start of the great depression of 1929. However, wrong conclusions may be drawn from similar symptoms unless basic development trends as well as the...

We construct economic policy uncertainty (EPU) indexes for a number of Latin American (LA) economies (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela) and the region as a whole, based on reports in the Spanish press. Our measures are comparable across countries. We study the...