Saving Honduras with Capitalism

The Honduran ZEDE experiment is a part of the attempt to not only catch up with its neighbors but to surpass them.

by Richard Rahn
December 2, 2015

Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Why has Honduras lagged behind its neighbors and much of the rest of the world?

It is resource-rich, has deep-water ports both on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, is very scenic and, because of its mountain terrain, has sub-climates that meet most people’s preferences.

As can be seen in this table, Honduras compares poorly with neighboring countries and some other countries of similar size. Guatemala next door has a per capita income roughly 50 percent higher, Costa Rica three times higher, Chile five times higher, and Switzerland and Hong Kong about 12 times higher than Honduras’.