Among the many problems that haunt Costa Rica, inflation is one of the most common ones. Foreigners, travelers and immigrants often complain about the high prices in Costa Rica. As a former nationalist, I was used to defending my “beloved nation” by saying that you get what you pay for, and that the living quality in Costa Rica hadn’t fallen from the sky… Taxes, regulation policies, and laws that protected the workers made the final prices of consumer products much, much more expensive than those of the region. I would probably then say that Costa Rica is not like the other countries nearby: we have stability, peace, and happiness. So, let us leave it at that and don’t complain, just pay the inflated price.

But I was wrong. Inflation is an issue that must be faced. More than five hundred colones buy one dollar, and the economic environment in Costa Rica is not welcoming for foreign investors that are looking for cheaper modes of production. The relative political stability is an incentive, though. The high cost of living in Costa Rica is not at all a byproduct of high living standard. On the contrary it is caused by an inefficient political system that prints too much money and has no idea whatsoever how to deal with debt. The current 5.7% inflation rate (indexmundi.com) may get out of control and then there will be no way for me to defend Costa Rica.