Since the first global event held in 2004, the Copenhagen Consensus process has been used successfully as a means of reviewing challenges for the United Nations and UNICEF, but this is the first time it has been applied to look at the problems of a single region. Inevitably, when global problems are covered, the focus of attention is on the world's poorest people, and particularly on the overwhelming challenges facing Africa and parts of southern Asia. In comparison, LAC countries are quite prosperous, with problems which by most measures do not compare with the miseries of Africa. Nevertheless, problems there are, and this volume represents a clear-headed and well-argued attempt to address these on a regional basis.

Although the performance of most countries in the region is around the global average when assessed by common economic indicators, they have a long way to go to fulfill their potential and catch up with the world's richest countries. At the same time, their performance is in danger of being overshadowed by the rise of China and other dynamic Asian economies. As readers will have learned for themselves, many countries in the LAC region still have structural problems in the economic and political system, holding back development to the disadvantage of entire populations.

Perhaps more worrying is the seemingly ingrained level of inequality in the region. Despite rising middle-class living standards and a small number of the very wealthy, there remains a stubborn problem of poverty for large swathes of the population.