The economic performance of Latin America has contrasted sharply with that of North America for centuries. Despite Latin America’s adoption at times of outwardly market‐​liberal policies and republican forms of government, the region’s social and economic institutions have been more difficult to change. Drawing from historical examples including his own Argentina, Guillermo Yeatts will describe how institutional continuity explains most of the difference in prosperity between the two Americas. He will also discuss changes in the “rules of the game” in Latin America that offer the region hope for lasting reforms that promote prosperity.