I want to start out this end-of-week missive by reiterating one immutable fact: no place is perfect… and in these tumultuous times which I call the ‘Age of Turmoil,’ no country is going to be completely immune to the looming problems which face the world, namely rising prices and resource shortages.

We discuss many countries in this daily column which stand head-and-shoulders above their peers– Brazil, Chile, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Panama, and several others. It would be unfair and inaccurate, however, to say that they are not without a few challenges.

For example, this week in Chile there were some small-scale riots in the extreme south of the country as people protested a 17% hike in gas prices. Chile imports most of its fuel and is thus more exposed to changes in oil prices than, say, food or industrial metals.