ABSTRACT
The recent global transition to a more diffuse distribution of economic power points to a shift in the balance of global growth from rich to low- and middle-income economies. Colombia may be a prime example as its recent rapid per capita income growth of 10.2% on average per annum since 1999 points to the potential for Colombia’s convergence to the ranks of rich countries. However, Colombia’s economic growth has been constrained by over 40 years of a costly and ineffective drug war policy that has failed. The illicit activity of drug production and trafficking grosses approximately US$10–$20 billion per year; it does not enter into the gross domestic product (GDP) accounting. In addition, the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) has stifled Colombia’s drive towards economic prosperity. Barring this social and political impasse, the economy would flourish.
