The second edition of the Natural Resources and Development Flagship Report addresses two key concerns for the world as a whole and for the South American region in particular. The first has to do with a new scenario in the global economy. For many years South America benefited strongly from a period of high commodity prices and low interest rates, mainly driven by Chinese demand and a “weak” dollar. That world is over. What does it mean for South American countries? The second concern is associated to the structural changes in international trade and its effects on labor markets. The emergency of the global value chains (GVC), population aging and automation are changing not only the type of relations between countries but the performance of labor markets. What are the implications of all these for the countries of the region, commercially biased upstream in global value chains?