An Inflation Moment

[SaraSara]

I do agree but why be whining about it ? We all knew coming here that such things happen here.
I arrived here in 2003 when it still was damn cheap, and in the near future, you can bet the peso will be devaluated again, and we will be back to a situation -for us- quite enjoyable !

French say : "quand les plafonds sont bas, il faut savoir baisser la tête" (when ceilings are low, one must learn to keep head low).

There are too a few ways to adapt yourself to inflation, not regarding housing or vacations I agree, but regarding food for example : just one example (I live in BA Norte), I find a pack of rucula at Jumbo in Pilar for nearly 10 pesos, I buy the same rucula, even fresher, for 1 peso from a small bolivian verduleria in a non-fancy village.

I'd say it's a good motive for you to visit other places than MDP.

Just my 2cts

Bolivians seem to have some kind of inside track when it comes to fresh vegetables. In Belgrano they spread a blanket on the sidewalk and sell from there - here in San Isidro they make weekly rounds going house to house with a basket.

The silver lining in inflation is that rising prices will scare away those who are in Argentina only because it is cheap.

 

[dillster]

Sara I have to disagree with the basis of your argument. Foreigners, whether or not they are here because it was cheap, are not the problem at all. Not by a long shot. The problem with ARgentina is the Argentine culture. They are their own worst enemy, but that is a discussion for another thread. No, Sara, foreigners have done plenty of good by being here. This is typical of the local culture to blame others when in fact their totally amoral behaviour and lack of any punishment of criminals are to blame. I mean who is responsible for all of that litter. The 24-hour a day, omnipresent litter. I see who does it. Argentines.

 

[Gringoboy]

Not to sound harsh, but I think then it's time to find another line of work, figure out how to make things work, or move on. We are after all foreigners who have the privilege to return to "home base" when things get rough.

Many foreigners were able to take advantage of low prices and low cost of living in the aftermath of Argentina's economic meltdown in the early 2000s. It seems that tide is changing. I just think the real victims here are Argentines themselves, not expats.

What are you talking about LatoBa?
Making a few assumptions quite freely.
I run a business here and am not about to find another line of work, thanks. I am married to an Argentine girl and so effectively I live as an Argentine.
Moving back to home base is not as simple as you make it sound.

 

[LAtoBA]

I run a business here and am not about to find another line of work, thanks. I am married to an Argentine girl and so effectively I live as an Argentine.
Moving back to home base is not as simple as you make it sound.

Well then that's great. But I just don't see how constantly complaining about inflation is go to change the reality of the situation. So as I said before....people have to figure out how to make things work for them.

Surely you're familiar with the boom and bust cycle of the economy here. This isn't something new....it's quite cyclical.

 

[SaraSara]

dillster, I'm not blaming foreigners for Argentina's problems, which are 99% self inflicted. But in my view, people who are here ONLY because it is cheap contribute very little to society and drive prices up for the locals.

Perhaps they will leave for greener pastures, now the dollar is lagging so far behind inflation. And with this year's bumper crops and the current record soybean prices, another devaluation is unlikely any time soon. That is, unless China stops buying our soybeans.

 

[Gringoboy]

Well then that's great. But I just don't see how constantly complaining about inflation is go to change the reality of the situation. So as I said before....people have to figure out how to make things work for them.

Surely you're familiar with the boom and bust cycle of the economy here. This isn't something new....it's quite cyclical.

I'm well aware of the boom and bust cycle in this country having lived here five years and often wonder why it has to be like this.
Every ten years, they keep telling me.
Or, this is Argentina, what do you expect?
Or it's a banana republic..etc etc.
Fine, but in the meantime we all have to suffer due to the incompetence of successive governments who are more concerned with filling their own pockets.
We have a right to complain if we are residents, expats or not.
I pay taxes, ingresos brutos and countless other impuestos and work ten hours a day as does my Arg wife who is a public accountant, but there is only so much you can squeeze out of your clients.

 

[Ashley]

dillster, I'm not blaming foreigners for Argentina's problems, which are 99% self inflicted. But in my view, people who are here ONLY because it is cheap contribute very little to society and drive prices up for the locals.

Perhaps they will leave for greener pastures, now the dollar is lagging so far behind inflation. And with this year's bumper crops and the current record soybean prices, another devaluation is unlikely any time soon. That is, unless China stops buying our soybeans.

I really don't think that the foreigners living here on dollars are the ones responsible for "driving up prices" either as they're a comparatively small number of people (most, it seems, have left) - I'm a long term expat here living on a local wage and married to a local. I do a skilled job for precious little financial reward and am perpetually frustrated by my complete lack of purchasing power...(and leaving is not an option for us right now).
During the few depressing (and fruitless) trips I've made recently to the shopping malls and high-streets here in search of a few over-priced basics, the only people I've noticed buying things (masses and masses of things, it seems) are locals! I remember before devaluation in 2001, parts of Buenos Aires were like a ghost-town - Now I can't seem to walk more than a few feet without passing another 0-km gas-guzzler or 20-something girl with bulging shopping bags... Seems to me like upper middle class Argentine's are having a field-day at the moment! I'd love to know how...

 

[French jurist]

Seems to me like upper middle class Argentine's are having a field-day at the moment! I'd love to know how...

................................

 

[jaredwb]

dillster, I'm not blaming foreigners for Argentina's problems, which are 99% self inflicted. But in my view, people who are here ONLY because it is cheap contribute very little to society and drive prices up for the locals.

Perhaps they will leave for greener pastures, now the dollar is lagging so far behind inflation. And with this year's bumper crops and the current record soybean prices, another devaluation is unlikely any time soon. That is, unless China stops buying our soybeans.

Ummm, what?? Foreigners who live here (for whatever reason), put incredible amounts of money into the economy and certainly DO NOT drive up any prices. How exactly did you come to that conclusion?

 

[SaraSara]

Foreigners with hard currencies do drive up rental prices - Palermo has become out of reach for many Args., and so has Las Cañitas. The same thing is now happening to Colegiales, formerly a nice modest middle class neighborhood.

There's no way someone earning pesos can compete with people with dollars or Euros. Foreigners are buying farms and land all over the country, paying inflated prices for everything. I don't blame them, I blame the Argentine vultures who charge them twice what properties are worth.

The number of new cars on the streets is puzzling - there are long waiting lists for many new cars. My niece's pickup truck was stolen; her insurerance will replace it but there are none available until late January.

As far as I know, only soybean growers are flush now. Most merchants are struggling, as is 95% of my extended family.