Sad But True.

[nlaruccia]

An interesting article.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/12/argentinas-inflation-problem-and-how-its-permeated.html

 

[Somewhereinba]

I said the same thing - Sad but true... This country has so much potential, unfortunately corruption and a society that is used to 'free' shit will not see this potential unless it is willing to change. This starts with behaviour, clean up your dog shit, don't stop your car in the middle of the road and expect people to go around you, stop charging ridiculous prices for shit quality materials, stop ripping people off - I could go on and on.. Every time I walk through the city and 'observe' people - I ask myself why aren't these people at work? These are not tourists in my city. I visit the supermarket and look at 20 people lining up to pay bills during the middle of the day and think of how much time and productivity is wasted on such mundane tasks that should now be performed online. I am going through the residency process and found out they do things differently in this state - I went from this place to that place and heard nothing but problems, system is down, only take 40 people, line up at 7AM, go to the central bank and line up for 4 hours to pay the bill since that is the only place allowed - it goes on and on... It's an absolute mess.. Every day there are dozens of people lined up at certain banks to get their money - more time wasted... It's ridiculous.

 

[nlaruccia]

I hear people not from Argentina or those who've never lived here analyze what changes can be made in the government to improve the country. They don't understand it's much more complicated than that. Society has to change and that is unlikely to ever happen.

 

[florence]

Nlaruccia, thanks for introducing me to Paste Mag. It will be one of my new go-to sites.

 

[Stevied]

This is an interesting article, and I felt compelled to comment on this because I think it points to a difference in perspective. I've followed many threads on this board for a number of years (starting as an unregistered lurker) with the theme of how bad Argentina has become - crime, inflation, etc. What struck me in the article is the complaint about the cost of a cafe con leche and two medialunas - 55 pesos. Now from the writer's perspective, it had skyrocketed from the 7 pesos he had paid when he first came to Argentina. But in perspective, 55 pesos for coffee and two medialunas is still quite low. My sister lives in Wichita, KS - a pretty low cost of living area in the US - that same breakfast would cost you (using 15 pesos to the dollar) almost 100 pesos. My parents live in Oldsmar, FL - another very low cost of living area - and guess what, about the same - 100 pesos. I live in NYC where that breakfast costs me around 140 pesos. When many of you arrived in Argentina with dollars, it must have seemed like paradise - very, very low cost of living relative to other places in the world that had similar quality of life. But the truth is that those low costs were not real - someone was subsidizing those low costs - and that someone is you now. The previous administrations were expert at kicking the can down the road with respect to the economy - essentially making future generations pay for the unrealistic benefits and cost of living. At some point, to get back on track, someone is going to have to bite the bullet and take some pain - and establish a new baseline that reflects the true cost of goods and services. I think that's what this administration is attempting to do (whether doing it well, I don't know). But future generations of Argentines will benefit from a more stable, and realistic, economy. Unfortunately, as I said, this means people will need to endure some pain to break them out of the dream of an unrealistic cost of living. For those with dollars - yes, it's become more expensive.....but still cheaper that many places in the world where you have similar quality of life. As for crime - again, from the perspective of living in Argentina for a long period, it probably seems that the crime rate has significantly increased. But relative to similar size cities in the world, BA is still on the lower end of crime rates. The problem with low crime rates is that any increase seems significant. We've seen that in NYC - crime has increased, no doubt, under our relatively new mayor (De Blasio - I'm not a fan)...but to be fair to him, it's still a very low crime rate relative to other similar sized cities. I guess my overall point is to reflect on how your costs and life are in Argentina relative to other places in the world that you could be - judge it on that. As for me, I'd take 55 pesos for coffee and two medialunas any day of the week!

 

[Girino]

I read the article and next thing I know I was on Google flight looking for a plane taking me away from this hell. Especially the line about Argentina becoming the theater of crossfires in the street in a Venezuelan fashion in a month scared the hell out of me.
Then I saw that the article is dated early December, i.e. three months ago. Nothing of this has happened. Phew!

Maybe the author exaggerated a little too much the safety issue, but this is easy when there is no official number about crime. Most people don't even report a crime, police is corrupt and have all interest in hiding the real numbers. It's all gut feeling!

Personally, I think inflation in Argentina is because of the people. If they all agreed on not touching prices for 6 months, things could normalize. However it takes a leap of faith to do so, and Argentinians are too selfish to do so or to think big. They live day-by-day and where literally exploited by any government that took office.

The Kirchner were two lawyers and ended up being billionaires. And people still defend them! Politics is worse than religion here.

 

[UK Man]

If incomers thought it was always going to be a bed of roses then hell mend them I say. I'm constantly surprised how well things actually work here to be honest.

Having said that there are days when I do get grumpy and would rather be somewhere else but I used to have days like that in the UK....c'est la vie.

 

[bobsnowpuppy]

Stevied...
I have relatives here and have been visiting for nearly 35 years. I moved here permanently in the fall of 2014. The peso to dollar was 16 then and is 16 now nearly two-and-a-half years later. Prices in pesos have more than doubled since then so it really makes no difference if you have access to dollars. In addition, have the wages of the people here nearly doubled in that time? No they have not. Do Argentine's make half or less for the same types of jobs in the US? Yes they do. So it is not cheaper to live here especially for native argentines. Having been in the accounting field in the US, I am familiar with what salaries are paid in the area and have asked several here what those jobs pay in Argentina. On average, an entry-level degreed staff accountant starts at about US$40,000 per year. The same position here would be lucky to get close to US$18,000 equivalent per year. $55 pesos for a coffee and 2 medialunas is very costly here. I marvel everyday at how the people are surviving and how they can afford to go to any restaurant or a movie or just buy groceries.

 

[Somewhereinba]

I marvel everyday at how the people are surviving and how they can afford to go to any restaurant or a movie or just buy groceries.

Me 3 - I think its a combination of buying things in bills and support from family. There can't be much saving going on which is understandable when your pesos turns to toilet paper the longer you hold onto it. Macri is now strengthening the peso to avoid anymore inflation - lets see how much longer they they can defend the peso. It's funny even though the peso has stopped sliding prices are still climbing - this again proves that a big part of inflation is society and companies (supermarkets I'm looking at you) taking advantage and charging whatever they want.

 

[Girino]

this again proves that a big part of inflation is society and companies (supermarkets I'm looking at you) taking advantage and charging whatever they want.

Supermarkets being more expensive than regular stores are something I cannot fathom. Their pricing looks like totally random. On the pricing label on the shelf, the product price doesn't always match the per-unit price. I.e. if a product is 100 g and costs 100 pesos, per price per kilo shown is not 1000 pesos. It is simple math but somehow they can screw that. Or two six-piece pack aren't necessarily more expensive than one pack of twelve pieces.

Still, people buy there. I think the reason is because they accept credit cards and have offers for credit cards, whereas regular stores does not.