Argentina’s Economy Unexpectedly Shrank Amid Austerity Push

[GMan_27]

In other news, water wet; more at 11:00.

I was in the US again this month and wanted to take pictures of tons of stuff at Target because it was cheaper, better quality, and of course, in stock.

In the end we got the country many of us on the forum assumed we'd get: Dollarized Prices with Pesified Salaries. Naturally this is going to result in the destruction of GDP and a recession as people earning 500K struggle to make it to the 10th of the following month after paying out of control prices that are often increasing dozens of percentage points higher than inflation each month.

Argentines can't print money, raise taxes, or get non-usurious loans like Milei and Caputo can, so instead they eat once a day, don't fix a broken AC unit, buy 1 Christmas gift, stop ordering delivery, etc. and this cripples the economy.

But hey, check out the Merval performance, Milei sure showed the caste, didn't he!

Whenever someone says that we will need to suffer a bit and things will get hard for a while - "Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make"

 

[Ries]

"unexpectedly"?

 

[Ries]

we dont actually have "dollarfied" prices.
We have prices which are still defined by Peron era duties, taxes, customs and correo rules, and a built in layer of bribes, fees, sub contractors, and friction which was designed to impede imports, and, thus, supposedly support local business.
MIlei has done nothing to change any of this.
Caputo, not even Milei, has announced that at some point in the future he will lower the tax, but change nothing else about this system.

The price of an imported iphone is not the "dollar" price- its the global price, tripled, due to the institutional difficulties of getting it in and selling it quasi legally.

What we have is a partially dismantled economy with no progress on changing the laws or regulations that affect imports or exports.

 

[sergio]

we dont actually have "dollarfied" prices.
We have prices which are still defined by Peron era duties, taxes, customs and correo rules, and a built in layer of bribes, fees, sub contractors, and friction which was designed to impede imports, and, thus, supposedly support local business.
MIlei has done nothing to change any of this.
Caputo, not even Milei, has announced that at some point in the future he will lower the tax, but change nothing else about this system.

The price of an imported iphone is not the "dollar" price- its the global price, tripled, due to the institutional difficulties of getting it in and selling it quasi legally.

What we have is a partially dismantled economy with no progress on changing the laws or regulations that affect imports or exports.

Doesn't sound very 'libertarian', does it?

 

[retiredbanker]

Very much interested to know your credentials that qualifies you to give an opinion on a national economy.
Must be Godly impressive ,,, I imagine.

Murray may get his sharp financial acumen from a site like CNN, which has as firm a grasp of economics as it does on US politics! Or, elsewhere. Anywhere else.

 

[FrankPintor]

Milei's Shrinking Christmas table ... "Pan Dulce" selling by the slice. Deme "una feta de Pan dulce"

You're not being serious, I hope.

 

[Redpossum]

You're not being serious, I hope.

At the bakery around the corner, they are literally selling it by the slice. Mind you, it's a very good pan dulce. Only bought it once, don't recall the price. I do remember thinking it was delicious but pricey.

Empanadas are 1800 pesos, and apple strudel is 650 a slice, but the quality is very good to excellent. I've been going there for a year, and I've met the owner, but no discounts are forthcoming, not even paying in cash.

 

[sergio]

At the bakery around the corner, they are literally selling it by the slice. Mind you, it's a very good pan dulce. Only bought it once, don't recall the price. I do remember thinking it was delicious but pricey.

Empanadas are 1800 pesos, and apple strudel is 650 a slice, but the quality is very good to excellent. I've been going there for a year, and I've met the owner, but no discounts are forthcoming, not even paying in cash.

Sounds like Dos Escudos - at least with regard to selling pan dulce by the slice

 

[on the brink]

Yesterday at Dos Escudos, empanadas were 2700 pesos for tuna, 2300 for spinach.

 

[Quilombo]

Yesterday at Dos Escudos, empanadas were 2700 pesos for tuna, 2300 for spinach.

Insanity. Empanadas have historically been around a dollar each since I first visited Argentina in the early 2010s. They want over $2 each? I'll pass