Which Has The Better Economy: Argentina Or Chile?

[camberiu]

Ok, how about child mortality rate. is that straight forward enough for you?

Chile: 9/1000
Argentina: 14/1000

http://data.worldban...tor/SH.DYN.MORT

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

Of course, like all statistical p1ssing contests, comparisons means nothing without context. Without considering the massive population difference, diversity of geography and financial trajectory of each country over a longer period these statistics mean nothing.

The argument that if we switched political systems Chile's infant mortality rate would rise and Argentina's would fall is facile. Context is everything and overwhelmingly absent in these dim ideological p1ssing contests.

Waste of time.

 

[germano]

Sorry, but to accomplish the same with a MUCH lower tax base, little inflation, little capital control, little income re-distribution and a MUCH friendlier business environment is beating the crap out of Argentina.

What does the business environment, capital control, taxes etc. have to do with the literacy rate? I didn't really have the time to find the sources but took a quick look at wikipedia and the tax rates do not look that different: https://en.wikipedia...es_by_tax_rates
Chile max. individual income tax 40% (plus 20% other payroll taxes like AFP, healthcare) / VAT 21%
Argentina max. individual income tax 35% / VAT 19%

I would have expected the tax rates to be much lower in Chile as people have to pay for everything themselves ...

 

[camberiu]

What does the business environment, capital control, taxes etc. have to do with the literacy rate? I didn't really had the time to find the sources but took a quick look at wikipedia and the tax rates do not look that different: https://en.wikipedia...es_by_tax_rates
Chile max. individual income tax 40% (plus 20% other payroll taxes like AFP, healthcare) / VAT 21%
Argentina max. individual income tax 35% / VAT 19%

I would have expected the tax rates to be much lower in Chile as people have to pay for everything themselves ...

The minimum tax rate in Chile is ZERO. In Argentina is 9%. So the poor are required to chip in Argentina, not in Chile. Chile has also a much lower corporate tax rate, much lower import tariffs, a much simpler tax code, and it does not have an enormous inflation tax the way Argentina does.

Capital controls, money printing, taxation, massive business regulation are justified by the Argentinian government as ways to "help the people", to finance social services and distribute wealth.
My point is that a poor person has a better life in Chile (healthcare, services, purchasing power, etc...) without all the burdens, taxes, inflation that Argentina has, which they justify as being necessary to help the poor. That is my point.


http://www.latinbusinesschronicle.com/app/article.aspx?id=5763
Argentina has the fourth-worst tax climate in Latin America, largely thanks to having the region’s highest corporate tax rate (35 percent) and tax rate as a percent of profits – a massive 108.1 percent, according to The World Bank. The number of hours needed to pay taxes – 415 - is also higher than the regional average. However, it fares better than average in number of payments – 9.

Chile, the highest-ranked country on this index, has Latin America’s second-lowest corporate tax rate (18.5 percent, up from 17 percent last year) and the lowest tax rate as a percent of profits (25 percent). It also has the third-lowest number of tax payments per year (9) and better than average number of hours required to pay taxes (316).

 

[Dublin2BuenosAires]

It's not much of point, it is irrelevant without considering a myriad of other factors including geography & immigration.

 

[germano]

The minimum tax rate in Chile is ZERO. In Argentina is 9%.

That is not true, there is an income tax threshold in Argentina if you are under the threshold you don't pay income tax. So the poor do not have to chip in. As far a I know the threshold was recently raised ...

 

[germano]

That is not true, there is an income tax threshold in Argentina if you are under the threshold you don't pay income tax. So the poor do not have to chip in. As far a I know the threshold was recently raised ...

I think I understand where the 9% come from, now. They included retirement tax etc. that the state collects in the 9% from Argentina. While that is all privatized in Chile (AFP) and included in the 20% payroll tax column. So it is 9% to 35% in Argentina vs. 0+20% to 40+20% in Chile. Also regarding the healthcare payroll taxes in Chile: you have to keep in mind that the insurance does not cover all in Chile. They have high co-payments (for primary care, dental care, emergency care, drugs http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Jh3012e/5.2.html) and one needs to get vouchers from the insurer before going to the doctor (except for emergency car of course). Considering that people have to pay that much themselves I wonder where all the state income taxes go in Chile...

All righty ... I think I need to log off, now and increase GDP per capita in Argentina a little ...

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Regarding our discussion about whether there is a middle class in Chile, I know you saw my point. People who are well to do are well to do for a reason. Some may have inherited it but for most it did not fall out of the ethers on them, as with the family I described. If only we could help people to get over the dependent idea of whether someone else will GIVE me a job. It is that mindset that holds most people back I think.

Sure it is hard work learning to run a business and most of us who do it have failures but even that forces us to grow if only we will persist. I see this all the time in people wanting to come here (South America) but depend on someone to give them a job instead of giving themselves a job. Often they are looking for more freedom but freedom comes from being independent. You can set a true entrepreneur down almost anywhere and he can see opportunity. It is a learned mindset. We learn it from doing it! And being willing to put in the effort.

It is the people who are willing to do that who end up with the money. And they SHOULD. They are the ones who invested their own money, who burned the midnight oil to learn and to make the business work. I don't resent them. I admire them. But then I always did. I never did have that me against the employer attitude that I see. If you don't like the employer, then go be your own employer.

Chile has a growing middle class, Argentina a declining one.

 

[internationalguy]

Chile has a growing middle class, Argentina a declining one.

Most countries have a declining middle class right now. That is hardly a solid argument

 

[ajoknoblauch]

Most countries have a declining middle class right now. That is hardly a solid argument

The reality is that the two countries are going in opposite directions.