Cost of Living Increases

I had the weirdest conversation with one of my Spanish professors. I told her that I had not got a raise for a long time because business has been bad. She looked at me really quizzically, then said, "Don´t you get a raise every year?". I told her no, it depends on the company and if they can give you a raise or not.

She explained that if you work in Costa Rica, there are two cost of living increases made to your salary every year, it´s the law. The government decides the percentage of the increase. This is for private businesses as well as government businesses.

I was shocked to say the least.

It´s tough to say if this is all bad. Costa Rica has high inflation, and there are a lot of people without jobs. On the other hand, there is a larger middle class in Costa Rica than the rest of Central America. Costa Ricans say they want a more stable economy, like the US, maybe they don´t realize the problems that are inherent in a market driven economy.

Juanito

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