Sure, there’s a lot of competition, mostly for unskilled and illegal workers, but if you have an education and the gusto to get off your ass you can find well paid opportunities.

I move to Dallas when the school year ends in Louisville and I’m opening up my own food operation down there. Good economy or bad economy, people like to eat. I have never seen restaurants so busy!

Anyway, great post. I think you prove that if you are creative enough, there’s money to be made.

BTW, I worked for a vitamin and supplement distributor in Peru and the prices are marked up considerably high. The product is intended for a higher end clientele and most of it is imported from Canada and the U.S.

I think most Latin American countries weathered the storm just fine, including Colombia. The countries overly dependent on oil were the hardest hit, but it’s no surprise to those who follow given those countries’ leaders. Colombia may have dipped into negative GDP for a quarter or so, but I believe it’s generally steaming right along with Peru. Building construction sure hasn’t disappeared. Some of Latin America’s solid fundamentals showed through and that’s why The Economist is churning out a bunch of articles drooling over Latin America, focusing on Brazil.

For people who are having to cut back, there’s never been a better time to be poor. Everything from flat screened TVs, to Hyundais, to Target, to computers, to free movies and TV over the internet, there has never been so much high quality available at low prices or zero prices. The value one can get for very little money is just amazing. There has never been a better time to be poor.

If you are building a business, you’ve never been able to find as many, incredibly high quality people available and eager to contribute to promising businesses. Executives from multi-national businesses are seeing the writing on the wall for their firms and bringing programs and ideas their businesses were to tradition bound to implement to very small businesses.

I fear the depression in the US is going to get much worse and it will be very difficult for many people, however it will be very good for the US. One has to remind themselves that the best time in the history of the world to start a bank was in 1934. The scars from past mistakes were still fresh and led to a responsibility and focus. The innovative businesses of that period in banking, advertising, entertainment and services dominated the world for the next 50 years.

The next five years are likely to be very painful for the US as consumers and the government deleverage, but looking at the businesses start to take shape, America’s future has never been brighter.

How do you think the recession/depression effecting Colombia?