Background before we head to the Cordillera

The New York Times had a wonderful article yesterday - just the lead paragraph is reproduced here - outlining the relatively good economic conditions in some Andean countries. Of course, they did point out that volatile commodity prices could reverse this trend, which historically has been the bane of these nation's existence. When metal prices are up, Peru does well, when companies have stockpiled metals, or recession decreases manufacturing or consumer purchases then times are bad. All in all, it points to the fragility of these economies being so dependent on US, Europe, and China. Well worth the time to track the article down on google.