The Case For President Sergio Massa

[Redpossum]

Exactly for that reason there will always be work arounds - especially for the 1%.

They will have their off shore accounts, crypto portfolios, while the poor receiving subsidies won't be able to spend their money freely, but will be forced to buy Tonadita brand dairy products because the owners are friends of some government minister.

Is Jupiter aligned with Mars?

I agree 100%. That is exactly what would happen.

 

[Agribotics]

why Sergio Massa would be the best choice for Argentina.

I think that's the wrong question to ask. The correct question I believe is who do you know who would be the best choice for Argentina and why? It could be anybody at all.

Once four or five Argentinians had been nominated by a quorum of citizens an election would be held. The winner would be required to serve as president as his or her civic duty.

The problem with most democracies these days is only a fool or charlatan would want to be president of most countries. No truly competent, intelligent person wants the job. That's why the only solution is to start treating being president as a civic duty and not the fool's errand it is now.

 

[Bajo_cero2]

I wonder how many of the expats with dual citizenship voting for Massa realize that the whole purpose of his digital peso is so the central bank can block things they don't like, like dollar transactions through unapproved channels. Y'all are going to be paying dolar oficial for everything, and people getting paid in pesos will only be able to exchange them for something of value through the central bank. Everybody whose name isn't "Massa" loses. You won't be able to afford to live here anymore AND the local economy will still be screwed.

You can do legit usd transaction using MEP.

 

[gringoexpress]

You can do legit usd transaction using MEP.

Mep only exists because the government saw how much USD they were losing to the private market and tried to recapture a share. If they were able to stamp out the dolar blue with a peso central bank digital currency, do you think the central bank would continue giving a favorable MEP rate to foreigners or dig their eyes out at the dolar oficial if there was no way for the foreigners to bypass it?

 

[gringoexpress]

Exactly for that reason there will always be work arounds - especially for the 1%.

They will have their off shore accounts, crypto portfolios, while the poor receiving subsidies won't be able to spend their money freely, but will be forced to buy Tonadita brand dairy products because the owners are friends of some government minister.

The real beauty of the CBDC from a politician's perspective is that they can control who is allowed to do certain kinds of transactions. If you don't have the "politician" flag on your account, or have a history of having paid your donation to somebody's cousin's ONG in the past year, the transaction to the company that turns your pesos into usd in the exterior simply won't go through.

There's always ways, but at a certain point, doing so becomes functionally impossible for the average person, either because they don't know the right people or because they lack the technical knowledge.

If you'd like an example for how this works, China is a great example. The government goes through periods of turning a blind eye to people getting their capital out of the country, then they crack down on companies doing it and whoever is in power uses the whole thing as an excuse to come down on their political opponents like a ton of bricks. CBDC lets the politicians stamp out the dolar blue, it doesn't prevent them from getting their ill-gotten gains out. Why would they ever implement a system that did that?

 

[gringoexpress]

You will be forced to use it. They will say: "Starting next month, all salaries will be paid in digital peso. You can access your money using our convenient Central Bank Wallet app, which offers payment capabilities via QR codes, similar to MercadoPago, and instant transfers to other people." And they will gradually take paper pesos out of circulation.

Say, for example, it's 2024 and you run a restaurant. Using paper pesos has long since become impractical because of inflation and small denominations. Thankfully, you get a lot of tourists who pay in foreign cash. You have to order supplies in digital pesos. Guess what? Since all those transactions get reported in real time to AFIP, you get flagged based on your presumed income calculated by the volume of supplies you order not matching your declared income.

 

[toongeorges]

You will be forced to use it.

In my interaction with Argentines I have found that wages or purchases usually have an official part and an unofficial part and typically Argentines choose how much they want to make official and how much they earn under the table.

On the official earnings, they pay the full taxes. The digital peso will be like the official earnings: people will earn something, because they think it is better to show some activity than none, but the official earnings are only marginal. It appears as if everyone is enduring hardship.

Most money is made in black and this money will not go through the digital peso, but through cryptocurrencies (or USD in cash) over which the government has no control.

Even the politicians here only declare a fraction of what they have and earn. I do not understand why people think the use of a digital peso can be imposed for everything. The Argentines that receive their income from the government will be heavily impacted, because they cannot avoid the system. People with normal businesses will find ways to circumvent it.

 

[sts7049]

the only way it gets circumvented is if people start using dollars as currency. the peso would be of no use

 

[Redpossum]

the only way it gets circumvented is if people start using dollars as currency. the peso would be of no use

It doesn't have to be dollars. It can be Euros, or Brazilian reales, or Uruguayan pesos, Paraguayan guarani, or whatever. Anything that is agreed to have value can be used.

 

[sts7049]

fair point. anything with value that isn't local currency