The color red in the Chilean stock market and the plummeting value of the peso have not been caused by fiscal deficits, economic bubbles, or the political stance of the government. On the contrary, Chile has long been praised for the soundness of its macroeconomic and fiscal policies, as well as the strength of its financial and banking sectors. Its current right-wing government, headed by the billionaire President Sebastian Piñera, is a champion of foreign investment, and has gone so far as to pledge benefits for corporate taxpayers.

The origins of the current economic malaise are social. Chile’s fundamentalist free market economic model, with its extreme inequalities, rising costs of living, and volatility, has pushed people in Chile to desperation. With the government seen to be growing ever closer to corporate interests, a growing sense of injustice has driven people out onto the streets. It will take deep structural change to satisfy their needs.