I don't really understand economics...

tomdesigns said:
You need to live in the USA again or for the first time. They are working on that and when they perfect it they will sell it to the entire world over night. :eek:
It is currently being delivered via the cell phone. Watch people as they dumb down to near zombie state as they pay homage to their "Smart Devise".
The devise which is tracking them and monitoring their buying habits and their banking habits and reshaping their opinions.
It's not so far off and it's already world wide. IT Just needs to complete the learning curve.
 
jamila said:
Do you think they might manage to have all that taken care of BEFORE i get there in Septemeber ;)
I am afraid my dear that you seem destined to "live in interesting times". But the big question is, why have you chosen to come to Argentina?
 
I very much doubt that the problems will be 'sorted' before you get here; if anything, as other have suggested, it may well be the beginning.
What concerns me is the social unrest referred to. Those two words cover a multitude.
I too am curious as to your motives for coming here, but it sounds like you are committed and I therefore bid you a very warm 'good luck!'.
 
I guess the short answer on why... is because I have wanted to live in Buenos Aires since I was here on vacation 3 years ago.
But it's a little more complicated than that. (a little)

1) mainly I am a tango dancer (if you dance tango you might understand why that could be enough in it's self)

2) The opportunity to live rent free was presented to me ( hosting a tango house)

3) I felt like given 1 & 2 it would be a great opportunity to create an "immersion" experience for myself and really learn Spanish.

4) I have already started the process of closing my business here and it would be a pain to "re-open"


I am not opposed to living in interesting times... i of course would prefer they would be safe times so my mom/family doesn't have to worry
 
jamila said:
It is not something that I am particularly interested in but I have been trying to follow along as my move to Buenos Aires is set for September.

So I have a few questions that I would like some help with. If someone could explain I would be very grateful. Remember, this is not my strong point so simple terms and examples would be appreciated.

1. Everyone agrees that Argentina is heading into a recession correct? Normally don't prices of items go DOWN in a recession? Why is it that Argentina prices are going up?

2. I realize that the worst part about a recession in unemployment.. which i think leads to increase in crime... but what else should one expect during a recession?

3. If the value of the peso continues to decrease. I realize that this is bad for Argentina as a whole but... is it negative for those who make their money in dollars/euros? It seems to me that this would be a positive for increasing tourism... Is that not true? why?


Thanks in advance, I am going on faith that there is no such thing as a dumb question!

1. Yes, in economics textbooks they teach you that in a recession that there is downward pressure on prices due to lack of demand for the corresponding supply. However, this is only true if there isn't much debt at the company level. If an industry in general has a lot of debt on their individual balance sheets, then when demand decreases, those companies have less revenue to cover their debt repayments. If they do not cover their debt repayments, then the companies will go bankrupt and the executives will lose their jobs, stock options, etc. So the executives of the companies will attempt to raise prices in order that overall revenue remains the same despite a decline in unit sales. As there is much of a collective herd mentality among executives in a particular industry, then it is pretty common that in the good economic times almost all of the companies will have taken on a lot of debt, and therefore in the bad economic times they all try the same trick of raising prices. Since they are almost all trying to do it, it works.

By the way, Argentina is not in a recession. So this doesn't even apply, nor would this debt scenario apply as most companies in Argentina have little debt. Prices are increasing in Argentina due to Cost of Living Increases in salaries which are a never ending spiral upward.

2. More often than not, recessions are a time of creativity in cultural things like music.

3. The Argentina government is attempting to remove foreign currencies from the economy, so for those that earn in USD or EUR, they might not be able to do so in the future. As for ARS/USD exchange rates and tourism implications, there are many other factors than the obvious ones taught in text books about this type of thing. Most importantly, Argentina has capital controls so there is not a free market in ARS/USD to determine price discovery for ARS/USD.
 
el_expatriado said:
One thing that Argentina has taught me is that George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Philip K. Dick are all wrong. A dystopia where the government has total control over everyone's lives is not possible because government by its very nature is so inefficient, incapable, corrupt, and inept that it could never hope to achieve the kind of control over everyone that these authors envisioned.

i have to agree with tom on this one, that the US is perfecting the model of a police state, which they will then export to other countries. this has been happening for some time now.
 
jamila said:
Do you think they might manage to have all that taken care of BEFORE i get there in Septemeber ;)

If you're serious about tango, you're going to have to come here sooner or later. If you wait until "they manage to have all that taken care of"(!!), you could be waiting a very long time. Meanwhile, the milongas will have continued without missing a step.

If you do come down, just keep your eyes open. Make some good friends. Don't lose your passport. Keep asking questions.
 
jamila said:
I guess the short answer on why... is because I have wanted to live in Buenos Aires since I was here on vacation 3 years ago.
But it's a little more complicated than that. (a little)

1) mainly I am a tango dancer (if you dance tango you might understand why that could be enough in it's self)

2) The opportunity to live rent free was presented to me ( hosting a tango house)

3) I felt like given 1 & 2 it would be a great opportunity to create an "immersion" experience for myself and really learn Spanish.

4) I have already started the process of closing my business here and it would be a pain to "re-open"


I am not opposed to living in interesting times... i of course would prefer they would be safe times so my mom/family doesn't have to worry

Living rent-free will be a huge financial weight off of your shoulders. I imagine you'll be as safe here in September as you'd be right now as long as you take all of the necessary precautions. Just realize that inflation shows no sign of slowing down, and be prepared to pay a lot more -- generally 100% more, in my experience -- for consumer goods than you did three years ago. And set aside enough money for a plane ticket home, in case you arrive and decide that BA is not what you were looking for, after all.
 
KarlaBA said:
3. The Argentina government is attempting to remove foreign currencies from the economy, so for those that earn in USD or EUR, they might not be able to do so in the future. As for ARS/USD exchange rates and tourism implications, there are many other factors than the obvious ones taught in text books about this type of thing. Most importantly, Argentina has capital controls so there is not a free market in ARS/USD to determine price discovery for ARS/USD.


not quite sure understand what you are saying here... why would someone be unable to earn USD/EUR? and also i have no idea what "capital controls" means
 
BienTeVeo said:
If you're serious about tango, you're going to have to come here sooner or later. If you wait until "they manage to have all that taken care of"(!!), you could be waiting a very long time. Meanwhile, the milongas will have continued without missing a step.

If you do come down, just keep your eyes open. Make some good friends. Don't lose your passport. Keep asking questions.

All tango dancers must... I am not worried about the milongas either... Thanks for the advice. I have some great friends in the tango community and I will be sure to lock up my passport
 
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