The global business elite is infatuated with Milei

[sergio]

You just nailed it! With the previous government’s protectionism, official rate and the subsidised utilities, transport etc. many people not bothered to do export or even domestic trading. Where on earth you can see businesses shutting for an entire month!! You can only do that if you pay $5 electricity bill per month. But with the foreign companies arriving here with their prices, products and work ethics, the local businesses will have to either up their games or bankrupt. A bloody water glass sold for $6 at mercado de frutas while ikea sells similar one in the US for $1.50. Argentina got some very talented designers tho and with some entrepreneurial spirit, they can do great abroad. It was just impossible with the official rate thing.

There is also a mindset that causes people to think things are worth far more than they are. There are people who would rather not sell than lower the price to something realistic. I'm astonished at the price of many items on Mercadolibre that are priced so high that they wouldn't sell in a prosperous, developed country.

 

[sergio]

Government can't create prospertiy. It can only create optimum conditons for the creation of wealth. If the people of Argentina have lost the entrepreneurial spirit no government can create the goods and services necessary for true prosperity.

The entrepreneurial spirit seems more alive with Senegalese street vendors or itinerant vendors on trains than with a lot of established businesses.

 

[FrankPintor]

The entrepreneurial spirit seems more alive with Senegalese street vendors or itinerant vendors on trains than with a lot of established businesses.

Can you expand on that? What are the Senegalese doing differently?

 

[gringoexpress]

Can you expand on that? What are the Senegalese doing differently?

Being subsidized by someone who has their own personal reasons for bringing them to Argentina and paying them to sit around all day pretending to sell clothing?

 

[sergio]

Being subsidized by someone who has their own personal reasons for bringing them to Argentina and paying them to sit around all day pretending to sell clothing?

I don't think they are pretending.

 

[FrankPintor]

Being subsidized by someone who has their own personal reasons for bringing them to Argentina and paying them to sit around all day pretending to sell clothing?

That was very uncharitable. Why pretending? They seem like perfectly nice people, and around Once at least, they sell acceptable quality goods.

 

[Reply Guy]

Being subsidized by someone who has their own personal reasons for bringing them to Argentina and paying them to sit around all day pretending to sell clothing?

Please expand

 

[gringoexpress]

That was very uncharitable. Why pretending? They seems like perfectly nice people, and around Once at least, they sell acceptable quality goods.

There's a bunch of them sitting around selling the exact same thing and not enough people buying for them to afford to be able to eat. There's a number of them a block from apartment so I've had ample opportunity to take note throughout the day. When a business doesn't seem to have any customers but somehow seems to be prospering to the point that numerous other people are jumping into the same business, despite the fact that none of them seem to have any customers, there's often an alternative explanation for what they're doing.

 

[GMan_27]

There's a bunch of them sitting around selling the exact same thing and not enough people buying for them to afford to be able to eat. There's a number of them a block from apartment so I've had ample opportunity to take note throughout the day. When a business doesn't seem to have any customers but somehow seems to be prospering to the point that numerous other people are jumping into the same business, despite the fact that none of them seem to have any customers, there's often an alternative explanation for what they're doing.

These kinds of responses are what drives "othering" and xenophobia and pushes unhelpful narratives about those trying to make a living in the world. If you took the time to read up or even speak with those who share spaces with you then you would find the reasons these Senegalese migrants do what they do.

Many of these men migrate from Senegal and sell goods (often leather or clothing related items) as a form of rite of passage within their cultural groups and because of their religion (Sufi Isalm), they belong to brotherhoods who help and assist each other in their mercantile pursuits. What you will find is that often money is either pooled or loaned and they buy in bulk as a group and divvy those goods up and sell to the public but most of all they will support each other in their brotherhood. If you happen to see a "bunch" in one location then you might not see others who may be more successful who help those men you happen to pass by. Also, unless you spend all your time auditing their sales then you will undoubted miss when they do make sales.

Another point is that these men are often not permanent migrants and make a small amount of money to take home to Senegal and build their lives with their families. There are those who try to illegally enter the US and Europe for a better life but those are different to the guys you see selling their wares here.

These people embody the idea of entrepreneurship and we should be encouraging the development of their small businesses. I am sure you will find that these kind of migrants will have far more competitively priced goods than what @Lanick sees on Mercadolibre earlier in this thread. I hope Milei makes a conducive environment for these and other small business owners in the country.

 

[Agribotics]

If Milei were smart he‘d announce that Argentina is now officially “open for business” and that 2025 will be the Year of the Entrepreneur with special incentives and startup friendly regulations.