Inflation expected to top 30% this year

[marksoc]

Menem was worse?

Yes, of course he was. External debt growth, unemployment + deflation, the end of the railway, terrorist attacks connected to some M friends, the "accident" in Rio Tercero to cover the illegal traffic of weapons, witnesses murdered, etc etc etc.

Call me a communist, but i prefer slow service to high unemployment+privatized utilities with extremely high prices.

And many many many things more.

If the only thing that the media can find about K are some legal USD transactions, land in El Calafate and the suppossed 500 million USD abroad (which are here), K is a baby compared with M.

 

[bsas]

The reserves weren't built up because the government was saving money and putting it away.

The reserves expanded because the Argentine government has been printing pesos and buying up dollars, and then sticking those dollars in the central bank. They did this to maintain a weak exchange rate. Why?

- The pressure on the Peso during the early days of the boom was intense as farmers and factories increased their exports. As dollars are used on foreign markets, and everyone is required to bring those dollars in through the central bank and buy pesos, resulting in a glut in the supply of dollars. By printing pesos and buying dollars at any price, they artificially maintained the peso low by taking the high number of dollars off the market.

- They increased their revenue in Pesos by maintaining a high Peso to Dollar exchange rate, making it easier to be seen as the reincarnation of the God Peron and his sweet wife Evita.

The result of this short-sighted policy is inflation. Now they are taking the Dollars out of the bank and doing away with any backing for their currency. Of course, they will benefit in the short term as the Peso continues its slide against the dollar because they'll squeeze more money out for their out of control budget. If you think the common man, or their beloved masses of poor will benefit, you're in a dream land.

Here's a couple of recent articles from around the world on KK.
http://imarketnews.com/node/8264
http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15469820

Kristina and Nestor have never thought about anything long term, and their policies reflect that.

 

[Vandalay]

Queen, plastic face, etcetc. Call her names, but the facts are that:

We have reserves now (De la Rua, 2001 did not), we have GDP growth (2002 not), we don't have a 25% unemployment (Menem 1995-1999), we don't have the army killing innocent people (1976-1983), we don't have hyperinflation (1989), the external debt is decreasing for the first time since.. I don't know... 1976? And other stuff, of course.

I don't think its helpful to rationalize the K's poor leadership by comparing them to other incompetent administrations.

Yeah for the majority of the years under the K's there has been GDP growth, but you have to take that with a grain of salt. It has increased mostly due to external factors. i.e, soybean prices. There is not hyperinflation as of now, but 30% on the year is not sustainable.

People are too quick to subscribe blame or give credit to politicians, when the fact is there are so many variables that they have little control over that can determine the economy, security, etc. I suggest you all read "Fooled by Randomness."

 

[bloody_bloo]

As I've mentioned previously, I have a 14 year old sister-in-law going to school here. She goes to a private school (not an exclusive one, it's only about 250 pesos a month). Required reading in history classes is "Las Venas Abiertas de Latina America." I'm sure everyone remembers the book Chavez gave to Obama early in Obama's presidency when the two met.

The thing about a book like that is that it contains good elements of truth - but only half truths. It doesn't tell the other half of the story, like it's the corruption and greed in their own countries that allowed bad deals to be made, it's the ongoing corruption and greed that ensures the populace will remain ignorant of any other way to do things because it benefits those in power.

I think you are right in part, but Las Venas Abiertas de Latina America dedicates most of its narrative to what happened since Cristobal Colón disembarked in America it is not contemporary. More recent events are depicted more accurately in Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine. Of course having the same problem, half true.

But then I have to say, how can you correct your own problems as a society when a more developed and organized one uses tons of money to push their agenda through the local greedy aristocratic establishment? I think without a figure like Chavez its almost impossible, and even with someone like him I don't think changes will be for good.

I believe that with greater power comes greater responsibility. The US is the most powerful nation in the whole world but not even close the most responsible.

One example: US prints money, US Banks shouldn't be allowed to lend money to illegitimate governments and use that loan to push bills, private contracts to rip off natural resources, ...

In my experience it is very strange to know that in schools they make you read a long time prohibited book such as Las Venas Abiertas de Latina America. I believe that most of us aren't aware of what it's in that book, we are thought nonsense colonial history and genocides like Julio Roca are depicted as heros. You are misinformed about our educational programs. Most teachers are ignorant because they mainly formed during dictatorships.

 

[bloody_bloo]

The problem is that I don't believe it. I don't believe any of the numbers put out by this government.

And who do you believe?

The media?

 

[jazrgz]

I guess she believes in reality, that usually helps !

when you say media, are you talking about the media that supports and distributes blindly every single action the Ks take or the rest of the media ? The numbers will most definately be different !

 

[citygirl]

First and foremost - I believe what my wallet is telling me. I'm spending a lot more on the same amount of stuff. I track my costs, I track what I spend on food, health insurance, bills, etc. And across the board, they've gone up over 30%.

And yes, I believe the financial data I'm seeing from outside sources.

What I don't believe is the figures this government is putting out.

 

[SaraSara]

The media in Argentina is largely dominated by the government.

-- TV stations are under government control.

-- Pagina 12 used to be an independent paper, and now is the K's rubber stamp. Even respected papers like La Nacion and El Clarin are kept on a short leash through the government's control of newsprint - no paper to print it, no newspaper.

-- Dissident radio personalities like Nelson Castro have had their talk shows cancelled when their radio stations were bought by Kirchner's associates.

If we believed blindly believed "the media", we would all be ardent supporters of the Ks.

 

[orwellian]

It is probably the most corrupted administration in the past 40 years !

I'd like to hear your arguments why you think so.

Right now, Argentina's country risk is as high as Greece's. Which is bankrupt.

Argentina is cleaning up after a bankruptcy that Menem put them in. Are you seriously blaming the current government for the past?

The media in Argentina is largely dominated by the government.

-- TV stations are under government control.

-- Pagina 12 used to be an independent paper, and now is the K's rubber stamp. Even respected papers like La Nacion and El Clarin are kept on a short leash through the government's control of newsprint - no paper to print it, no newspaper.

-- Dissident radio personalities like Nelson Castro have had their talk shows cancelled when their radio stations were bought by Kirchner's associates.

If we believed blindly believed "the media", we would all be ardent supporters of the Ks.

You have any source for this?

 

[perry]

The media in Argentina is largely dominated by the government.

-- TV stations are under government control.

-- Pagina 12 used to be an independent paper, and now is the K's rubber stamp. Even respected papers like La Nacion and El Clarin are kept on a short leash through the government's control of newsprint - no paper to print it, no newspaper.

-- Dissident radio personalities like Nelson Castro have had their talk shows cancelled when their radio stations were bought by Kirchner's associates.

If we believed blindly believed "the media", we would all be ardent supporters of the Ks.

I have to disagree fully with these comments as the main newspapers in Argentina are Clarin and La Nacion and I have never seen one positive article in any of them about Christina nor the current government.

The other newspapers quoted here have a readership of less than 10 percent of the others meaning their influence is small at best