The Dominican Republic is underrated

Despite being one of Latin America’s poorest countries in the mid-1960s, the Dominican Republic has made remarkable progress in terms of income convergence…

What is remarkable about the Dominican Republic’s progress is not just the level of convergence but also its speed compared to other countries in the region. By examining the average convergence velocity, or the rate of change in income convergence per decade, it is evident that the Dominican Republic has exhibited the highest average convergence velocity, or “blue shift,” in Latin America over the past 50 years. Panama and Chile have achieved equally meaningful but still lower positive convergence velocities, while the majority of countries in the region have experienced either very low (“green shift”) or negative (“red shift”) convergence velocities.

Here is the full IMF brief, retweeted by Matt Yglesias.  There is much more at the link.  I have been there twice, including as recently as last year (albeit briefly), and this accords with my intuitions.