How Costa Rica Became a Productivity Outlier Without an Army

The Productivity Podcast with Fexingo: Output, Efficiency, and Long-Term Economic Growth · Jun 27, 2026 · 10m · transcript

In 1948, Costa Rica abolished its military and redirected the savings into education, health, and infrastructure. Seven decades later, it's the most productive economy in Central America with per capita income nearly double the regional average. Lucas and Luna explore how that radical decision created a productivity flywheel — from near-universal literacy and a world-class ecotourism sector to high-tech medical device exports that now outpace coffee and bananas combined. They break down the numbers: how abolishing the army freed up roughly 1.5 percent of GDP annually, how that investment…