The Tsunami that occurred in November 2004 killed over 140,000 people, leaving s

The late-December tsunami ushered in 2005 on a somber note, with the death toll at over 140,000 and rising. Several million have been left homeless along the Indian Ocean coast, in particular in Indonesia’s Aceh province and in Sri Lanka. The rebuilding, along with the immediate need for emergency food and medical assistance, will require a global relief effort.

Uruguay has been a proud exception to the privatizing wave that swept through South America in the 1990s. Its state-owned firms are more efficient than many of their counterparts in Argentina and Brazil ever were. In 1992, Uruguayans voted in a referendum against privatizing telecoms. They rightly observe that some of Argentina’s sales were botched, creating inefficient private monopolies. And with unemployment at 15% , nobody is enthusiastic about the job cuts privatization would involve.