How's everyone hanging in there with the cost of living these days?

[VincentKMcMahon]

Maybe the Reagan/Bush trickle-down theory aint working in Argentina ? Milei assured prices would correct themselves, no price fixing here. Prepagas believe in price gouging.Call Milton.

Communists hate landlords like you. Stalin would love to have you shot

 

[Redpossum]

Ah, nothing like reading some commie-talk to start the day right!

This is a personal attack, and that's not OK.
Name-calling is a weak response, showing us all that you cannot or will not address the issue.

 

[Redpossum]

Hi all,
Just curious for those of you who have been here for a while... how ya hangin' in there? What do you expect to happen in the coming months/years (especially for those who have experienced these up-and-down cycles before)?

I am not hanging in there. My rent just went up another fifty bucks a month, the second such increase this year. The measly 2.5% COLA we are getting will only amount to $25 for me, which will cover half of that. My situation is approaching truly scary and if I can't live on my income here, I damn sure can't survive on it back in the land of the big PX.

As for what I expect, God only knows. Things were so much better back in 2014.

 

[ArgentinaVet]

Or gas - the USA gets its gas mostly from foreign countries and it's cheaper than the prices here at YPF where it is all mostly Argentinean gas.

The USA does not get its "gas" (not natural gas and not gasoline) from foreign countries. The USA is now a net exporter of crude oil and is currently the larger producer of oil and natural gas in the world. Gasoline and diesel price differentials between countries are mostly a result in differences in taxes.

 

[sergio]

I am not hanging in there. My rent just went up another fifty bucks a month, the second such increase this year. The measly 2.5% COLA we are getting will only amount to $25 for me, which will cover half of that. My situation is approaching truly scary and if I can't live on my income here, I damn sure can't survive on it back in the land of the big PX.

As for what I expect, God only knows. Things were so much better back in 2014.

Here is a discussion of the exchange rate. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/06/milei-update-3.html
If I understand correctly, allowing the peso to float and find its real value (what one would expect from a libertarian government, no?) would increase inflation. Since lowering inflation is the main - maybe only - achievement to date, the peso is being kept artificially high. I'm not an economist so maybe some more knowledgeable person can explain it.
As for Redpossum's plight - and I suspect that of many expats who have stayed on, the question is just how long this can go on and how much worse it will get. It seems to me that the middle class are being crushed.

 

[nikad]

Here is a discussion of the exchange rate. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/06/milei-update-3.html
If I understand correctly, allowing the peso to float and find its real value (what one would expect from a libertarian government, no?) would increase inflation. Since lowering inflation is the main - maybe only - achievement to date, the peso is being kept artificially high. I'm not an economist so maybe some more knowledgeable person can explain it.
As for Redpossum's plight - and I suspect that of many expats who have stayed on, the question is just how long this can go on and how much worse it will get. It seems to me that the middle class are being crushed.

Based on what I have read, it will continue until next year's elections innoctober apparently. As a matter of fact they intend to lower the crawling peg rate to below 2% monthly...

 

[A Antares]

I am not hanging in there. My rent just went up another fifty bucks a month, the second such increase this year. The measly 2.5% COLA we are getting will only amount to $25 for me, which will cover half of that. My situation is approaching truly scary and if I can't live on my income here, I damn sure can't survive on it back in the land of the big PX.

As for what I expect, God only knows. Things were so much better back in 2014.

I hope that Milei is thinking hard about what Argentina can offer to the United States prior to his meeting with Trump this week in return for Trump leaning on the IMF. Yerba, beef, Messi and lithium won't cut it.

 

[Rich One]

Here is a discussion of the exchange rate. https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2024/06/milei-update-3.html
If I understand correctly, allowing the peso to float and find its real value (what one would expect from a libertarian government, no?) would increase inflation. Since lowering inflation is the main - maybe only - achievement to date, the peso is being kept artificially high. I'm not an economist so maybe some more knowledgeable person can explain it.
As for Redpossum's plight - and I suspect that of many expats who have stayed on, the question is just how long this can go on and how much worse it will get. It seems to me that the middle class are being crushed.

Next year Argentina will be one of the most expensive countries in the world (in dollars). Similar situation as during Menem's last period 1997, or worse... Deme 2..! then one day the exchange rate went from 1:1 to 3:1 . Then default and collapse.

 

[sergio]

Next year Argentina will be one of the most expensive countries in the world (in dollars). Similar situation as during Menem's last period 1997, or worse... Deme 2..! then one day the exchange rate went from 1:1 to 3:1 . Then default and collapse.

So how long before the default and collapse. Maybe the expats will hang on until then.

 

[mmoon]

I am not hanging in there. My rent just went up another fifty bucks a month, the second such increase this year. The measly 2.5% COLA we are getting will only amount to $25 for me, which will cover half of that. My situation is approaching truly scary and if I can't live on my income here, I damn sure can't survive on it back in the land of the big PX.

As for what I expect, God only knows. Things were so much better back in 2014.

I am really sorry to hear this. It sounds so stressful, especially for those expats living on a fixed income who don't have the option to just move home to make more money.