News release: “Central America’s spiraling wave of crime and violence is threatening the region’s prosperity as countries face huge economic and human losses as a result of it, according to a newly released World Bank report. Aside from the pain and trauma inflicted upon victims, violence can cost the region up to 8 percent of its GDP when taking into account law enforcement, citizen security and health care costs, the report argues. This is no small change for a region that in 2010 grew around 2 percent of GDP, while the rest of Latin America grew around 6 percent. To make matters worse, crime and violence also hampers economic growth, not just from the victims’ lost wages and labor, but by polluting the investment climate and diverting scarce government resources to strengthen law enforcement rather than promote economic activity, argues Crime and Violence in Central America: a Development challenge.”