I moved from the US to Argentina for the lower cost of living

[cherepaxa]

Just to remind everyone that Argentina doesn't begin and end with CABA. There are lots of other places to live quite inexpensively: Cordoba, Mendoza, Salta, Posadas, to name a few big ones. I live in Mendoza, and we have been receiving a slew of financial refugees from the States, Europe and Canada, mainly retirees and young professionals working remotely. We own an apartment complex in the city, and we keep our prices reasonable for the demographics we're hosting. Meanwhile, there are pages and pages of Airbnb listings with empty calendars, going for three times what they should go for, and I'm turning people away because we're out of apartments. The cost of food has gone up, but to ride a bus is under $1, a gas bill is around $10 and electricity is about $20 in the winter. My cell phone plan is $8/month, doctors' appointments are $20-25 and dental cleanings are $40. There is no way in hell you can find any of these prices in the US, Canada or the UK, so maybe whoever is complaining about CABA's prices should fly out and take a peek at the rest of the country? Just saying ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

PS: Oh yeah, and Mendoza is considered one of the most expensive provinces. Cordoba and Salta are a lot cheaper.

 

[QuilmesSlo]

argentina has the must expensive food of the planet and this makes it unliveable for retorees . In the last 2 years everything is 3 times dearer in US dollars but then they Say inflación has gone down .

Not to be a pain, but inflation a rate of growth. Low inflation can just mean that your new, high price levels have plateaued. If the new price levels are unaffordable, low inflation doesn’t solve the problem. Anyway, inflation isn’t low, just much lower than before.

 

[Che1990]

Meanwhile, there are pages and pages of Airbnb listings with empty calendars, going for three times what they should go for, and I'm turning people away because we're out of apartments.

Argentina will never ever change until people realise that, in a capitalist society where businesses have to compete, you earn money with VOLUME and not MARGIN.

Here, the culture is to set the price high and they then scratch they’re head when they don’t sell. Until that “chip” changes, the economy will never pick up.

Your anectode about empty Airbnbs is exactly what I’m talking about

 

[lunar]

Argentina will never ever change until people realise that, in a capitalist society where businesses have to compete, you earn money with VOLUME and not MARGIN.

With margins over 50% on the iPhone, Apple seems to be doing just fine in a capitalist society.

 

[Che1990]

With margins over 50% on the iPhone, Apple seems to be doing just fine in a capitalist society.

Margin is perfectly fine if a business can differentiate itself, find a niche and innovate. Apple has done exactly that, they pratically invented the original smart phone. Their margin have come down since they originally launched the iphone due to competition.

Most businesses in Argentina are homogenous and sell the same thing, thus they need volume as they won't get margin.

 

[Vossos]

With margins over 50% on the iPhone, Apple seems to be doing just fine in a capitalist society.

Balenciaga also does well in a capitalist society. We can all find such strawmen. Apple wins on brand value and UX.

I would argue that many Argentinian businesses are more keen on pricing themselves out of existence rather than being competitive or innovative

 

[redlobster]

I would argue that many Argentinian businesses are more keen on pricing themselves out of existence rather than being competitive or innovative

They should have made an episode where Jerry Seinfeld goes to Pakistan and teaches the locals how to do business.

 

[Sparta]

Margin is perfectly fine if a business can differentiate itself, find a niche and innovate. Apple has done exactly that, they pratically invented the original smart phone. Their margin have come down since they originally launched the iphone due to competition.

Most businesses in Argentina are homogenous and sell the same thing, thus they need volume as they won't get margin.

Not that it's a big deal, but I find it interesting when I see this common misconception. I worked in telecoms for years, so pardon the possibly long post to follow. Haha.

Apple didn't invent smartphones, even in the slightest sense of it. There have been consumer touchscreen smartphones since the mid-90s (IBM Communicator), and a long list of hugely popular smartphones between that time and the iPhone's release.

Perhaps, Apple can be partially credited for the form factor that has become the default today. Only partially, because LG released the LG Prada (a feature phone) with that form factor a month before the first iPhone (2007). The LG Prada also had a finger-operated touchscreen. The form factor and capacitive touch screen were the two main features Apple gloated about with the original iPhone.

So in reality, the first iPhone (and every edition since, to be honest) barely introduced anything novel, but the marketing and positioning has been second to none.

I had several smartphones long before the original iPhone. Some were the Sony Ericsson series, P800 in 2002, P900 in 2003 and P910 in 2004. The Nokia Communicator came out in 2001. Nokia also made many great smartphones, especially their N-series phones, like the N95. Most of those phones have similar features and apps as current smartphones, and mostly ran the Symbian operating system. Some ran on Windows Mobile.

Apple also often gets credited with "inventing" front-facing cameras, with the iPhone 4. Meanwhile, there were many smartphones offering front-facing cameras and video calling, as far back as 1999 (Orange Videophone). There were several hugely popular mainstream smartphones after that, from Nokia, Sony Ericsson, HTC, NEC and the likes. Nokia's 6680 with a front-facing cam in 2005 was very popular, 5 years before iPhone's front-facing cam.

 

[El_fuego]

Can’t help but smile while reading this. All the praising and love for Argentina, evaporated and replaced by complains, disdain, plans to leave.. good riddance. It shows how the loyalty obly went as long as it was good times. But now that you feel what an Argentine feels, it’s Chao. And what’s to be expected, these people lived in the capital, as porteños, that we in the real country consider the scummiest part of Argentina. You porteños go on, head out, you never were about this, rootless city dwellers. Me? I’m tying to the land. I didn’t immigrate to be an expat enjoying a temporary strong dollar. I came for a new life.

 

[Anna GF]

Well we are just visiting here for a few weeks and have to comment about the amazing health care we've received. My son had an allergic reaction yesterday to a brownie he was given that had nuts in it. Despite 2 epi pen shots, he was still covered in hives and his chest and throat hurt so we took him to a private hospital IADT. They suggested he stay overnight for observation. We left this morning and he is all better. Total price, no insurance, was $350. For a night of pediatric intensive care with dinner and breakfast for mother and child. We had a similar experience in the US last year and our CO-PAY was $1500. And this hospital was absolutely beautiful and everyone super friendly. Argentina is incredible.