EdRooney
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Hey economics fans, time for our latest instalment of "Argentina Has Its Financial Head Up Its Keester":
Exhibit A:
Ámbito Financiero (sort of the Argentine Wall Street Journal) published an article this week on the German budget:
Berlin defends its zero debt policy
The Background
The IMF, after years of pushing countries to cut deficit spending and enforce austerity, has realised that the effects of German enforced austerity are killing growth in the Euro Zone, creating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
So the IMF called on the German-led EC to ease up on its zero-deficit policies in order to foster growth in the Euro Zone.
Now, as the Ámbito article shows, Berlin has fired back at the IMF, saying it refuses to loosen fiscal policy in order for countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France to grow their way out of recession.
So, now with this background in mind...
How Argentines React to the News
Well the comments on the Ámbito article give us a nice little slice of the "informed" segment of Argentine opinion.
1. Argentines know that the IMF is bad, therefore, they must go against whatever the IMF says-- even when said IMF ducks its tail between its legs and reverses its policies. The IMF has flip-flopped, therefore we must flip-flop too.
2. The Pro-K's, knowing that if there is anything good and wholesome in the world, it must have come from the botox-inflated frontal lobe of Dra Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, so they therefore claim credit for Berlin's "excellent" policy move rejecting the IMF, saying Merkel must have learned it from the "Argentine Model" (even though K policy has been the exact opposite).
3. The anti-K's, knowing that all things CFK are evil and all things emanating from more "civilised countries" are inherently good say, no don't give CFK credit for this awesome no-deficit policy, rather they refer to Duhalde and De La Rúa (the guys responsible for the corralito and the mega-canje).
Either way, there is consensus: Germany is doing the right thing by killing growth. (Finally, K's and non-K's agree!)
The Bottom Line
The ironic part of all of this, is that it has been countries like China, Bolivia, Singapore, ARGENTINA, South Korea, etc.-- all of whom intentionally bucked the IMF's previous austerity diktats-- that grew during the recession years and are now vindicated by the IMFs volte-face. Yet the political class in Argentina, especially the K's, cannot see that. All they see is blind partisanism: IMF bad! CFK Good!
None of the commenters (in the country's main economic paper!) had any clue about monetary policy or the context of what they were debating. All they knew how to do was to defend their side, even when defending their side meant taking the exact opposite position.
I am well aware that this type of rank partisanship exists just about anywhere else, but can there be any hope for a country's economy when the "most informed sectors" seem to be so clueless?
Exhibit A:
Ámbito Financiero (sort of the Argentine Wall Street Journal) published an article this week on the German budget:
Berlin defends its zero debt policy
The Background
The IMF, after years of pushing countries to cut deficit spending and enforce austerity, has realised that the effects of German enforced austerity are killing growth in the Euro Zone, creating the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
So the IMF called on the German-led EC to ease up on its zero-deficit policies in order to foster growth in the Euro Zone.
Now, as the Ámbito article shows, Berlin has fired back at the IMF, saying it refuses to loosen fiscal policy in order for countries like Spain, Portugal, Italy and France to grow their way out of recession.
So, now with this background in mind...
How Argentines React to the News
Well the comments on the Ámbito article give us a nice little slice of the "informed" segment of Argentine opinion.
1. Argentines know that the IMF is bad, therefore, they must go against whatever the IMF says-- even when said IMF ducks its tail between its legs and reverses its policies. The IMF has flip-flopped, therefore we must flip-flop too.
2. The Pro-K's, knowing that if there is anything good and wholesome in the world, it must have come from the botox-inflated frontal lobe of Dra Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, so they therefore claim credit for Berlin's "excellent" policy move rejecting the IMF, saying Merkel must have learned it from the "Argentine Model" (even though K policy has been the exact opposite).
3. The anti-K's, knowing that all things CFK are evil and all things emanating from more "civilised countries" are inherently good say, no don't give CFK credit for this awesome no-deficit policy, rather they refer to Duhalde and De La Rúa (the guys responsible for the corralito and the mega-canje).
Either way, there is consensus: Germany is doing the right thing by killing growth. (Finally, K's and non-K's agree!)
The Bottom Line
The ironic part of all of this, is that it has been countries like China, Bolivia, Singapore, ARGENTINA, South Korea, etc.-- all of whom intentionally bucked the IMF's previous austerity diktats-- that grew during the recession years and are now vindicated by the IMFs volte-face. Yet the political class in Argentina, especially the K's, cannot see that. All they see is blind partisanism: IMF bad! CFK Good!
None of the commenters (in the country's main economic paper!) had any clue about monetary policy or the context of what they were debating. All they knew how to do was to defend their side, even when defending their side meant taking the exact opposite position.
I am well aware that this type of rank partisanship exists just about anywhere else, but can there be any hope for a country's economy when the "most informed sectors" seem to be so clueless?
