Econ Post Two: 10/2/10

The transition from an agriculture-based economy to a service based economy has presented many potential socioeconomic challenges for the near future. After reading the Myers article I see three main socioeconomic problems facing Costa Rica by the year 2015. First, with the predicted increase in tourism there must be steps taken towards carbon neutrality otherwise Costa Rica and its national parks will reach their carrying capacity. Second, with the decrease in agriculture and new businesses entering the country, there will be more high paying jobs available, but only to the few. The presence of some excessively rich Costa Ricans may cause inflation, but more certainly, it will greatly increase the growing gap between the rich and the poor. Even though agriculture is on the decline and only 6% of Costa Rica’s foreign exports, it employs many workers. This brings me to my third problem, the presence of foreign immigrants in Costa Rica. Many immigrants from Nicaragua already take jobs from Costa Ricans in the various plantations and this problem may get worse. With more immigrants in Costa Rica there will be more residents to support and more resources needed to do so. These last eight words make it exactly 200.