Argentina "Credibility Crisis" WSJ Column

[Rich One]

"President Alberto Fernández is taking the country to the ground in the traditional Argentine way. No amount of foreign aid can fix a country where the productive economy has been reduced to a tool to serve the interests of an all-powerful political class, "says the columnist who writes about the region every Monday."

Dura columna del Wall Street Journal sobre la “crisis de credibilidad” de la Argentina

Una analista del periódico financiero advierte al presidente electo Joseph Biden que las políticas de asistencia al país tienen pocas chances de éxito

www.infobae.com

 

[Redpossum]

Yawn.
A typical conservative perspective from the WSJ, the voice of the NY bankers...
Macri paid off the bankers and massively indebted the country, so they loved him. Alberto is his opponent, and thus the devil incarnate.
... and the usual "peronchos bad" drivel from infobae.

 

[antipodean]

Completely agree however it is generally nothing new - Argentina lost credibility long ago. Now is undoubtedly a time when it needs credibility to take itself out of “bankruptcy” and also get through the health and social crisis it is facing. That looks less likely by the day.

Reporting live from Brazil can report first hand:

• Shops are generally open, people are trading, new things are opening and businesses are innovating, nothing is in short supply (A stark contrast from Av. Córdoba or Cabildo or ghost town of Microcentro)
• Poverty appears as it always has - after two weeks of eating outside at restaurants in various cities only one person has approached to ask for money (in BA I’m lucky if only one person asks for money during any given dinner)
• Tourism is taking place however significantly reduced with predominantly domestic tourism with only a handful of Europeans and US people
• Prices for most things are the same or slightly lower than same time last year despite the real being weaker against the dollar
• Police cars, taxis, ambulances, ubers etc are generally new models. There are plenty of new public buildings and infrastructure too
• Rio (bigger than CABA) has less reported daily COVID cases than CABA despite being a “red zone” Testing is as easy as walking into a pharmacy and getting one (rapid test 10-15 mins, PCR 4-6 hours)
• You don’t get a sensation of a state breathing down your neck, in fact if you didn’t look you probably wouldn’t even know it or it’s crazy leader existed
• Security doesn’t feel better or worse than last year
• People are generally happy and they show it!! People are generally confident doing business and planning for the future.

While Brazil and other countries do have their own problems at the moment, they do not (visually or emotionally, at least) compare to the depression and uncertainty that Argentina is going through. There is real optimism on the other side of the Rio de la Plata.

 

[antipodean]

But at least there is always a bright side!

 

[Iznogud]

Credibility? We don't need no stinkin' credibility!

«Kirschnerist credibility», the ultimate oxymoron.

Iz

 

[jblaze5779]

They have sovereign credibility.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

Successful economic reform is not possible in view of Argentina's political culture, history and constitutional structure. Successful reform would require a prolonged military dictatorship -- something few have the stomach for in Argentina or abroad.