What's happening in Argentina in the context of global geopolitics

bigbadwolf

bigbadwolf

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From Spengler at Asia Times:

Latin America presents a different malady: it has the middle class that wasn't. The raw materials boom turned into a windfall for Brazil and Argentina, and the windfall financed spectacular rates of internal credit growth (31% and 38% respectively during the past year). For the first time, Brazil's auto manufacturers produced for internal demand rather than exports, and Sao Paolo choked in traffic while the helicopters of ethanol billionaires buzzed overhead. Argentina is now effectively broke, and the government of Cristina Kirchner has expropriated the country's private pension plans to obtain cash. Its foreign credit has collapsed completely.

Brazil's central bank still has formidable reserves, but the fragile political compromise that has kept a nominally leftist government in power cannot hold under present circumstances. Brazil's enormous underclass is ruled by drug gangs that are better armed than the police. A Brazilian congressional committee was told in February 2006 that corrupt elements in the Argentine army were selling heavy weapons to the Brazilian drug mobs, including anti-tank missiles.
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The whole article is depressing reading.
 
One thing Brazil has going for it is natural resources. They won't be too bad off. They can always sell stuff to China. Argentina markets will someday come back up, but only if commodities increase.
 
Ironically, since Argentina has been largely shut out of the international credit markets for years they will be among the countries least affected by the current credit market shutdown.
 
That article doesn't look like it was written with an unbiased opinion.
 
A very down to the point quote from that article about the Kirchners ideas:
"Argentina too has been exhibiting its usual status as poster-child-for-lousy-economic-policy ever since 2003, and those of us who value sound economic policy more than the welfare of the Argentine people are duly cheering now that the chickens are coming home to roost. (Sorry amigos, but you guys elected these bozos. Indeed it's a great relief that the good guys didn't win the 2007 presidential election; otherwise, as after the late unlamented Juan Peron, it might have been another 50 years or more before you finally figured out that populist-leftist economics doesn't work. This way, you'll have your chance to straighten up and fly right in a couple of years.)"
 
Fettucini said:
A very down to the point quote from that article about the Kirchners ideas:
"Argentina too has been exhibiting its usual status as poster-child-for-lousy-economic-policy ever since 2003, and those of us who value sound economic policy more than the welfare of the Argentine people are duly cheering now that the chickens are coming home to roost. (Sorry amigos, but you guys elected these bozos. Indeed it's a great relief that the good guys didn't win the 2007 presidential election; otherwise, as after the late unlamented Juan Peron, it might have been another 50 years or more before you finally figured out that populist-leftist economics doesn't work. This way, you'll have your chance to straighten up and fly right in a couple of years.)"
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This quote seems to repeat itself in a lot of the articles about Argentina. It's a country with a lot of potential that remains untapped due to the political problems there and the resulting mismanagement of the economy that's been going on for decades.
 
In my years of living here, its a cultural problem, a societal problem, not strictly political. They are victims of no one but themselves. In fact, reading a history of Argentina, will send a chill up your spine. The virus of Spanish influence, Thomas Jefferson called it. Cross over into mexico and head south and its centuries of closed doors, limited lives, children struggling on the streets, and a clan of familes lording over the masses. Its 2008 and I still cant believe the way the argentines treat each other. No wonder they dont trust anyone, thats because "anyone" cant be trusted here. I have very little respect for them as a whole and distain for many as individuals.
 
JG said:
They are victims of no one but themselves.... The virus of Spanish influence, Thomas Jefferson called it. Cross over into mexico and head south and its centuries of closed doors, limited lives, children struggling on the streets, and a clan of familes lording over the masses.
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Yep, that's the history of Latin America in a nutshell.
 
The indignant colonialist complaining about the beastly natives has been caricatured and lampooned so often I can't believe that people with these opinion really exist outside EM Forster novels.

Ho hum. Takes all sorts to make a world...
 
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