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[SlowWalker]

I've worked at Michelin star joints in Chicago as a sommelier. A middle class family used to be able to dine at most of them. Here in Buenos Aires as well. I used to dine at them frequently on a lower middle class wage. Now, those wages have me pegged at near poverty level when compared to purchasing power. People are seeing wages that used to afford them vacations, dining out regularly, having disposable income...are now unable to even afford their mortgage/rent and the basics. This is why the system is failing. It's obvious. Any scraps that the governments can hoard, Joe citizen will never see it. Wages are low to bulk accounts of a very slim upper class these days. Essentially, I'm told to stop living so that a few folks at the top can do it, instead. However, my labor...they'll keep siphoning off its value. Politicians shouldn't be able to accept bribes by way of 'campaign donations' and should never, ever be able to trade on the market with the privileged positions they hold. It's all the biggest scam I've seen. In one breath Trump can sink the markets, then bolster them the next day. It's not reality. It's a system made and held together by corruption. And most folks suffer it, and will sadly suffer more if we accept this as the norm.

Absolutely. Agree with every point. But it is a global issue, not just American or Argentinain.
Canadians that don't own homes now are essentially being told the only way they will move out will be with roommates.

I am not defending that system. That system is made up of politicians acting within their best interest, and those of lobbiest or their donors.
While there may certain aspects that overlap in Argentina right now, I don't think the protectionist policies and lack of development in the country were helping. If the country was investing in itself on productive things to sell then it might have had a better chance. But by not developing resources, the system becomes extremely unsustainable to support the value of the currency and operating expenses of the government. If we were to look at Saudi Arabia, UAE, and other governments, they are able to fund their investments and growth throught the sale of resources. And they have gone beyond just oil and gas, but developed fertilizer industries, additional mineral mining, aluminium smelters (9% of the worlds aluminium production split among Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Bahrain). Saudi has a reasonable size population 35.1M, While the other countries have smaller populations and much smaller citizens, Qater - 2.6M residents with 313k citizens, UAE - 11.7M with 1.4M citizens. The countries are also far smaller than Argentina, therefore much cheaper to provide services and infrastructure to the entire population.

 

[SlowWalker]

I was talking about Naomi Klein, not Stephanie Kelton. They are two different women. Yes, in one post, I mentioned Stephanie Kelton and her economic theories. In at least two other posts, I referred to Naomi Klein and her book The Shock Doctrine.

Apologies, I'll take a look.

 

[xaxage]

Aren't most foreign students from Mercosur countries? I thought it was trivial for them to become residents. Or would you make it free only for citizens?
I personally don't think the free universities are the cause of the failed economy, but on Reddit there was a spate of anti-university posts around the time of the protests.. I doubt they were organic.

Not only for citizens, but specifically for native citizens that were not only born in Argentina but also both of their parents did

 

[SlowWalker]

From the article in the Buenos Aires Herald:

“The business environment remains demanding, marked by unpredictable regulatory changes and an administrative burden that is expected to grow over the next year,” the report said.

And

"Marcelo Abad, director of the Investment Diploma program at Universidad Austral, told the Herald that in 2026 “there is a marked improvement in macroeconomic expectations and in pro-market sentiment compared with previous years.”

He pointed to “the slowdown in inflation and the drop in country risk, which make it easier for capital to come in and for projects to be planned.”

Even so, he acknowledged that “significant weak spots remain, tied to the level of activity, financing and medium-term regulatory uncertainty.”
Abad also said the lack of investment in ports, railways and highways — a consequence of the halt in public-works spending — could create “a major bottleneck” for the expansion driven by the country’s natural resources.

Why introduce the infobae info? To sidetrack, to deflect, the play the whataboutism game. That's why.

And by the way, the Buenos Aires Herald article says NOTHING about Argentina digitizing and or even trying to develop a solid digital infrastructure, which you claim they say. The article in the Buenos Aires Herald specifically says "...an administrative burden that is expected to grow over the next year."

1) Ports: In January there was the announcement of the investment to expand and improve the Santa Fe port (Santa Fe port announcement article). It seems with this article, they are advancing on aspects of it with the tender process (advancing santa fe port). YPF also just announced a $25B project including pipelines and port (Rio Negro).

Roads my understanding is, 9000 km are being tendered for 20 years requiring private investment and no state subsidy, with another 12,000 km to follow.

Railway the Urquiza corridor upgrades are underway. Privatization is advancing for the Belgrano Cargas privatizion or concessions is advancing. And they are preparing/reviewing plans for the railway from Vaca Muerta to the port which would be done by private investment.

It is fairly common around the world to have companies build the ports, railways, pipelines they will be requiring or the export of their minerals.
Check out ports and railways for Iron Ore, bauxite, oil and gas, etc.

2) I brought up the Infobae article with the complete country list to provide context. You seem to want to demonize Argentina and the current administrations efforts at every opportunity. By providing the entre list we can what other countries there are. We can see that it is all countries in the same region and Europe some with smaller and others with much larger economies, some of whom are always considered to be the winners where Argentina becomes the loser (Brazil with respect to agriculture and manufacturing). The reality is all these countries share some of the same issues and its related to the administrative/bureacratic requirements. Highlighting France which is a mature country and economy also shows some of the impacts of just spend spend spend. Similar is Turkey with high inflation. Mexico has gone through an extreme period of growth, but its also had Free Trade agreements, and been used as an accessway to the North American market by China.

3) a quote from the article
"The reforms the Argentine government is pushing on deregulation, currency liberalization and administrative simplification “are laying the groundwork for a much more predictable and competitive business environment,” he said."
I was assuming the administrative simplication included digitization.
i) I have been told by those that worked with importing and exporting that systems had improved with this administration and that system is online. ii) My doctor has told me the government forced prescriptions to go digital and I have experienced this for the last 6 months at least probably,
iii) Automotive registry was forced to go digital
iv) Drivers License is valid nationally and digitally and can be renewed online
v) Move to advance digital signatures without notarization (I'm not sure but I think this is more applicable to businesses than individuals)

 

[Rich One]

The universities would do well to start charging foreign students tuition. Foreign students study for free on the backs of the Argentine taxpayer, many of them, perhaps even most, return to their country shortly afterwards to work there without contributing a dime to the country that educated them.

Tuition in public universities -isn't free- is being paid by all Taxpayers... It's extremely unfair that minimum income taxpayers, (that will never attend university), pay for the education of the children of affluent families, that could well afford tuition.
Students that can't afford the tuition costs should receive student loans.

 

[MarshallE]

Tuition in public universities -isn't free- is being paid by all Taxpayers... It's extremely unfair that minimum income taxpayers, (that will never attend university), pay for the education of the children of affluent families, that could well afford tuition.
Students that can't afford the tuition costs should receive student loans.

To be honest I don't see the problem with providing public education for your citizens. The pretense being that this investment in their education will be paid back manyfold by them working higher skilled jobs and contributing back to the state with taxes in the future.

I am curious if you would extend your line of reasoning to the concept of universal health care too?

"It's extremely unfair that healthy people (who will never go to the hospital), pay for the healthcare of the sick, who should pay for it themselves. People who can't afford treatment should go into debt to pay for it"

 

[Paige55]

Tuition in public universities -isn't free- is being paid by all Taxpayers... It's extremely unfair that minimum income taxpayers, (that will never attend university), pay for the education of the children of affluent families, that could well afford tuition.
Students that can't afford the tuition costs should receive student loans.

I think education should be free, taxpayer funded and encouraged. No means testing. Though, I think anyone who isn't a citizen should be charged to complete their degree, or agree to work in the country after their studies to pay back into the system a bit. Less affluent, minimum wage folks pay taxes into the state coffers regardless, and that money should be used for programs that enrich all citizens (education, healthcare, housing).

Also, affluent families pay more in taxes on their higher earnings. So, to tell them they have to pay full price to attend university, that's not the way. Student loans are a nightmare and should be banished into the pits of hell. You can't assume because somebody comes from wealthy parents that those parents can afford their children's university bills. That's just a surefire way to make sure those kids get lowered into the poverty bracket after graduation. I don't dislike high-earners that much to want to saddle their kids with debt on account of they have it a little easier financially. You can't tell a families situation by solely looking at their net worth, so means testing is just a dead end route, in my eyes.

Every kid should enjoy an education without it bankrupting them before they enter the job market. The real problem is freeing up the children who come from minimum income families to also attend university alongside their wealthier peers.That takes decoupling from government help all together and lifting those kids up as a community. A lot more work.

I'm a single woman with private healthcare...but the taxes I pay help a lot of people even when they're not helping me directly. I am ok with that, I'm not resentful. That's what they're for. What I'm not ok with, is the government using the money from my hard earned labor for war, military police forces, pet projects and trips around the globe in the false name of 'diplomacy.' I don't care if they use my tax dollars to house and rehabilitate the drug addicts up the street, I prefer that to rehabilitating their bank accounts while they're in office and leaving the country in an even deeper sinkhole.

 

[mageesa]

I think its pretty easy for them to get a temporary residency at first, and then after 2 years they can apply for permanent residency.
It is just another stream for temporary residents.
I think the free university is limited to permanent residents and citizens.

Universities have two typically considered primary purposes, 1) delivering post-secondary education, not just limited to job training, and 2) act as a research hub. Secondary purposes may include 3) landlord (in many areas they own a lot of land and buildings), 4) investing to generate funds to support 1) and 2).

As far as I am aware, university is still free for permanent residents and citizens. While I don't like the idea of people being undervalued, I think some of the pay being reported is under reported in some forums because they leave out details of minimum pay vs per course (based on hours and level/tile). If they are below the minimum from the matrix then they are automatically getting the minimum which is higher than what people refer to. Or, professors/instructors/teaching assistants then need to strike. Simply stop offering their services and force the government to improve the conditions otherwise it is what it is. There have been university strikes for professors and teaching staff before. A single protest in the street doesn't really do anything. And by the looks of it, the number of people in the street seems to be getting much much smaller every time, suggesting the protest is losing support. Teaching Assistants in north america is supplementa income for a graduate student it isn't the basis of their livelihood. Professors get their salary, but they also need to produce papers etc. In many fields their work can be sponsored by industry, consortiums, foudnations, etc and they need to seek out the funding, apply and get awarded, it isn't just automatic. Many also offer consulting services, both individually or together with other professors.


Personally, I think that its great and more common around the world. It is a great example of the market doing its thing and finding opportunities and growing and I am proud of you for sharing it. I am a single guy. If I am walking around the city, sometimes I just want a slice not a whole pie. Slices should be more available. There should be more options to eat than just empanadas or kiosco food/alfajors/etc. Here you also have kioscos offering sandwiches and panchos etc. In Canada and some other countries that isn't the case in all corner stores, more just limited to 7-11s and Circle K/Mac's, but you end up with hot dog vendors etc on the street or food trucks.

Everywhere around the world restaurants are closing. This is evident in North America. Between higher rents, labour, food costs, and also tipping getting out of control putting pressure on people now, many are just not making it. Especially old famous or the neighbourhood institution restaurants. When the lease comes up they decide its not worth it or the family/generation that owns it doesn't have someone else that really wants to do the work involved in running a restauarant, or they can sell the real estate for a lot more. This isn't an Argentina only phenomenom.

The high end restauarants will continue to make, they usually always do. The wealthy continue to spend, and some restauarants get their Michelin star and that makes it attractive. Middle class may splurge once a year for something, international travellers will go since its a one off experience on a vacation etc. Some people base trips around Michelin restaurants while others base it around sports, concerts etc.

Is this AI assisted writing? It's so weird to me to have the numbers embedded in 'list form' within a paragraph (as in your first paragraph).
Or is that a punctuation style borrowed from another country, or was this auto translated, or dictated? What's you process here?
Just curious, it may just be that I'm starting to hallucinate 'AI' whenever people post long list-filled responses. This seems like a blend.
(I tend to skip any response in a thread that's AI generated, not sure if I'm alone in this. If I wanted to converse with a , I would just do that)

 

[SlowWalker]

Is this AI assisted writing? It's so weird to me to have the numbers embedded in 'list form' within a paragraph (as in your first paragraph).
Or is that a punctuation style borrowed from another country, or was this auto translated, or dictated? What's you process here?
Just curious, it may just be that I'm starting to hallucinate 'AI' whenever people post long list-filled responses. This seems like a blend.
(I tend to skip any response in a thread that's AI generated, not sure if I'm alone in this. If I wanted to converse with a , I would just do that)

Are you talking about the 1) and 2) .....?
That is just me trying to clearly articulate things and then to be able to refer back to them clearly without restating them completely and just referring to them as 1) and 2).
I'm not sure that is an official style, is just how I've done it for quite some time.
AI is not writing my responses or adjusting in rephrasing or any other technique. I am a human being.

In another post where I was responding to multiple points I used 1) format as the differentiator between points and then I,ii,iii..... As the list of examples of digitization examples. In other times I've also used a,b,c....
Is there a specific form to be used? I am not from the US so maybe it's a difference in how I was taught, though the spell checking is US English.

The length of the post is just me responding to the various points in the previous post with whatever info for context, explanation, example etc I think helps in making it complete and understandable without expecting the other reader to know everything or have to do a bunch of searching to understand it. When I read something that is just a block of references and then having to go check each one to understand the writer's point, it makes me less interested, so I try not to do that.

 

[mageesa]

I think education should be free, taxpayer funded and encouraged. No means testing. Though, I think anyone who isn't a citizen should be charged to complete their degree, or agree to work in the country after their studies to pay back into the system a bit. Less affluent, minimum wage folks pay taxes into the state coffers regardless, and that money should be used for programs that enrich all citizens (education, healthcare, housing).

Also, affluent families pay more in taxes on their higher earnings. So, to tell them they have to pay full price to attend university, that's not the way. Student loans are a nightmare and should be banished into the pits of hell. You can't assume because somebody comes from wealthy parents that those parents can afford their children's university bills. That's just a surefire way to make sure those kids get lowered into the poverty bracket after graduation. I don't dislike high-earners that much to want to saddle their kids with debt on account of they have it a little easier financially. You can't tell a families situation by solely looking at their net worth, so means testing is just a dead end route, in my eyes.

Every kid should enjoy an education without it bankrupting them before they enter the job market. The real problem is freeing up the children who come from minimum income families to also attend university alongside their wealthier peers.That takes decoupling from government help all together and lifting those kids up as a community. A lot more work.

I'm a single woman with private healthcare...but the taxes I pay help a lot of people even when they're not helping me directly. I am ok with that, I'm not resentful. That's what they're for. What I'm not ok with, is the government using the money from my hard earned labor for war, military police forces, pet projects and trips around the globe in the false name of 'diplomacy.' I don't care if they use my tax dollars to house and rehabilitate the drug addicts up the street, I prefer that to rehabilitating their bank accounts while they're in office and leaving the country in an even deeper sinkhole.

Are you talking about the 1) and 2) .....?
That is just me trying to clearly articulate things and then to be able to refer back to them clearly without restating them completely and just referring to them as 1) and 2).
I'm not sure that is an official style, is just how I've done it for quite some time.
AI is not writing my responses or adjusting in rephrasing or any other technique. I am a human being.

In another post where I was responding to multiple points I used 1) format as the differentiator between points and then I,ii,iii..... As the list of examples of digitization examples. In other times I've also used a,b,c....
Is there a specific form to be used? I am not from the US so maybe it's a difference in how I was taught, though the spell checking is US English.

The length of the post is just me responding to the various points in the previous post with whatever info for context, explanation, example etc I think helps in making it complete and understandable without expecting the other reader to know everything or have to do a bunch of searching to understand it. When I read something that is just a block of references and then having to go check each one to understand the writer's point, it makes me less interested, so I try not to do that.

So you're not using AI at all in these responses?