I read the same article as Stan the other day -- it's an interview with Niall Ferguson, good read.
Re:
criswkh said:
My friends/family from the States keep asking me how Argentina is doing with the recession. I keep telling them we are not having massive layoffs like the States. Since most people use CASH there is not much of a credit issue.
1. There haven't been so many layoffs because a) there's only a 10th of the population here so not as many people to fire in the first place! (Although Canada with a similar population has lost something like 100,000 jobs so far) b) most companies are waiting until the next quarter to announce layoffs. The auto industry is shut down here essentially, workers have been on reduced hours since December. Most large companies here are going to be announcing layoffs in March/April -- everyone I know has already said that their company is going to be cutting back on staff.
2. Cash is king here, but don't forget the whole system of paying in Cuotas. When you go to buy your item, you put a certain portion down, then pay the rest in cuotas. I'm assuming that if you don't pay out the rest of your cuotas Fravega, or whoever you bought from, has the right to repossess your items. So while people may buy their houses with cash, they buy their LCD TVs, A/Cs, Fridges, Washer/Dryers, Computers, Furniture, Groceries, all the way to a pair of underwear in cuotas. So assuming repossession is the result of non-payment, a lot of people won't be losing their house, just all the stuff in it! Not the worst thing if you ask me, just like in the States, way too many people here buy stuff before they really can afford it -- the number of people buying 5, 6, and 7000 peso LCDs just doesn't compute with the number of people that actually make the salary to pay for them.
Can anyone clarify if that is the result of non-payment? It seems like many locals do buy everything on credit, they just don't think of it that way because they call it cuotas... but the fact is if you don't pay for it 100%, it's still on credit to me.