[URL]http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/145916/cristina[/URL]'s-last-stand.
Stranger.
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[URL]http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/145916/cristina[/URL]'s-last-stand.
Stranger.
[QUOTE=Stranger;436770][URL]http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/145916/cristina[/URL]'s-last-stand.
Stranger.[/QUOTE]Good article. I laughed my ass off at the opening sentence...
"[I]Cristina’s economic “model”... was put together by a bunch of cranks devoted to the writings of long-dead polemicists who did their best to make out that Argentina was the innocent victim of wicked Anglo-Saxon imperialists who, for their own nasty purposes, prevented it from becoming the industrial powerhouse God had intended.[/I]"
Thanks,
Jax.
Too bad that Argentina didn't learn more from the Anglo-Saxon imperialists. Here are some quotes from an essay / book by Daniel Hanna, "Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World." He has some lessons for the USA, as well as countries like Argentina.
[I]Outside North America, most of the Anglosphere is an extended archipelago: Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, the more democratic Caribbean states. What made the Anglosphere different? Foreign visitors through the centuries remarked on a number of peculiar characteristics. They wondered at the stubborn elevation of private property over raison d'état, of personal freedom over collective need.
British exceptionalism, like its American cousin, has traditionally been held to reside in a series of values and institutions: personal liberty, free contract, jury trials, uncensored newspapers, regular elections, habeas corpus, open competition, secure property, religious pluralism.
The conceit of our era is to assume that these ideals are somehow the natural condition of an advanced society—that all nations will get around to them once they become rich enough and educated enough. In fact, these ideals were developed overwhelmingly in the language in which you are reading these words. You don't have to go back very far to find a time when freedom under the law was more or less confined to the Anglosphere: the community of English-speaking democracies.
Freedom under the law is a portable commodity, passed on through intellectual exchange rather than gene flow. Anyone can benefit from constitutional liberty simply by adopting the right institutions and the cultural assumptions that go with them. The Anglosphere is why Bermuda is not Haiti, why Singapore is not Indonesia, why Hong Kong is not China—and, for that matter, not Macau. As the distinguished Indian writer Madhav Das Nalapat, holder of the Unesco Peace Chair, puts it, the Anglosphere is defined not by racial affinity but "by the blood of the mind."
[B]There is, of course, a flip-side. If the U.S. abandons its political structures, it will lose its identity more thoroughly than states that define nationality by blood or territory. Power is shifting from the 50 states to Washington, D.C., from elected representatives to federal bureaucrats, from citizens to the government. As the U.S. moves toward European-style health care, day care, college education, carbon taxes, foreign policy and spending levels, so it becomes less prosperous, less confident and less free.
Which brings us back to Mr. Obama's curiously qualified defense of American exceptionalism. Outside the Anglosphere, people have traditionally expected—indeed, demanded—far more state intervention. They look to the government to solve their problems, and when the government fails, they become petulant.
That is the point that much of Europe has reached now. Greeks, like many Europeans, spent decades increasing their consumption without increasing their production. They voted for politicians who promised to keep the good times going and rejected those who argued for fiscal restraint. Even now, as the calamity overwhelms them, they refuse to take responsibility for their own affairs by leaving the euro and running their own economy. It's what happens when an electorate is systematically infantilized.[/B][/I]
[QUOTE=Tiny12;436773]Too bad that Argentina didn't learn more from the Anglo-Saxon imperialists. Here are some quotes from an essay / book by Daniel Hanna, "Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World." He has some lessons for the USA, as well as countries like Argentina.
[B]There is, of course, a flip-side. If the U.S. abandons its political structures, it will lose its identity more thoroughly than states that define nationality by blood or territory. Power is shifting from the 50 states to Washington, D.C., from elected representatives to federal bureaucrats, from citizens to the government. As the U.S. moves toward European-style health care, day care, college education, carbon taxes, foreign policy and spending levels, so it becomes less prosperous, less confident and less free.
Which brings us back to Mr. Obama's curiously qualified defense of American exceptionalism. Outside the Anglosphere, people have traditionally expected—indeed, demanded—far more state intervention. They look to the government to solve their problems, and when the government fails, they become petulant.
That is the point that much of Europe has reached now. Greeks, like many Europeans, spent decades increasing their consumption without increasing their production. They voted for politicians who promised to keep the good times going and rejected those who argued for fiscal restraint. Even now, as the calamity overwhelms them, they refuse to take responsibility for their own affairs by leaving the euro and running their own economy. It's what happens when an electorate is systematically infantilized.[/B][/I][/QUOTE]
Yes, Britain and America have taught the world a lot about democracy and prosperity. Yes, Argentina wastes its considerable resources. But why focus on the Greeks in Europe? The fact is that Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland are currently more free and are growing more rapidly in terms of prosperity than the United States. All of these countries, whether they use the Euro or not, provide excellent government-sponsored health care, day care, and college education. Denmark, a country without oil, is carbon neutral at this point and provides a model of sustainability for future generations. People in these countries pay taxes and they get a prosperous society with little violence in return. Private enterprise is rewarded and appreciated. Rich people do well, but so do the working classes. The naivete of so-called libertarianism is properly rejected as infantile selfishness. I did want to get your word infantile in there.
The northern Europeans have much to teach the U. S. at this point in history. Why is it that so many Americans reject plain facts in favor of outdated ideology? There's a whole real world out there beyond standard U. S. talk radio propaganda.
[URL]http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/149364/us-top-court-agrees-to-hear-argentina-bank-subpoenas-case[/URL] (Buenos Aires Herald)
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-10/argentina-gets-u-s-supreme-court-hearing-in-bank-case.html (Bloomberg)
The SCOTUS agrees to hear the Argentina Bank Subpoena case. .
[URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25836208[/URL]
50% tax, seems excessive. I think guys coming there could bring a few items to resell.
For years I have touted the virtues of Montevideo. After many trips to MVD I found the food was good the hotels and apartments inexpensive and of course the p4 p as inexpensive and worth the price. OK things have changed. Recently I was in MVD for a week. Prices have gone up. Everything has gone up. After my week comitment I took the ferry to BA. I rented an apartment in Palermo and the food in that area was much better than I had remembered. I indulged in the p4 p twice and it was cheaper and better that I can remember...OK I am planning a return to BA in February. A few more trips and I may move here..
REGARDS THE HOTROD.
Anybody can buy up to 2000 dollars a month for savings so long as you earn more than 7200 pesos per month. And if you don't deposit them in a bank (remember 2001) you pay a 20% surcharge.
[URL]http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/150681/government-unveils-details-of-its-plan-to-allow-dollar-sales-for-savings-[/URL]
Where to start?
Our currency sucks so bad we understand you want to save in another.
Sure you can buy them just apply here. (no not you, nor you, or you, nope not you either).
Trust us, you can put this in the bank..
I probably should have posted this in the "Weird Argie Things" thread, it's nothing but smoke and mirrors.
[QUOTE=DaddyRulz;437863]Anybody can buy up to 2000 dollars a month for savings so long as you earn more than 7200 pesos per month. And if you don't deposit them in a bank (remember 2001) you pay a 20% surcharge.[/QUOTE]Any idea if you'd be able to withdraw USD paper money from your account? It sounds like it might be 2001 in reverse -- you pay 12 pesos for your dollars, deposit them to the bank, then when you go to withdraw you get 8 pesos.
I suspect this is a ploy, part of the plan for the central bank to get more foreign reserves to try to prevent a currency free fall and even higher inflation. Somehow Ms. Kirchner is going to get her hands on those dollars.
On Wednesday, when her speech was carried live by all television channels in a national broadcast, President Fernández de Kirchner spoke to announce a plan to grant subsidies of 600 pesos a month to 1.5 million destitute 18-24 year-old youths.
Her announcement raises two questions:
1. Where exactly is she going to get the money? Perhaps from the magical "[I]Subsidy Fairy[/I]"?
2. Can anyone tell me again exactly how I will "[I]benefit enormously[/I]" from this "[I]trickle up[/I]" subsidy?
It's sad to watch liberal politicians as they start to sound like aging athletes who just can't accept that they're policies have failed as they continue to promise even more free money in exchange for votes.
Very sad.
Thanks,
Jax.
[QUOTE=Tiny12;437868]Any idea if you'd be able to withdraw USD paper money from your account? It sounds like it might be 2001 in reverse -- you pay 12 pesos for your dollars, deposit them to the bank, then when you go to withdraw you get 8 pesos.
I suspect this is a ploy, part of the plan for the central bank to get more foreign reserves to try to prevent a currency free fall and even higher inflation. Somehow Ms. Kirchner is going to get her hands on those dollars.[/QUOTE]It's a sham, unless you're connected you won't get the approval to make the purchase in the first place. A friend of mine satisfies the purchase requirements for people going on vacation but when she applied to buy the dollars for a trip the request was denied. No reason, just declined. I think this is a story to try and calm the markets. I don't think they (official cambios) could sell at the blue rate, they would have to sell at the Official rate. Though who the hell knows, as fucked up as they are here, maybe they might try and pull that off. You could have a buy / sell rate for ripping off tourists, and an "official" rate for Argentines buying dollars under this program that would match the blue rate. Now that I think about it, I could actually see this government trying to pull that off.
They sure as hell aren't going to let people buy dollars at the official rate of 8, then let them sell them for 12 just to hit them with a 20% penalty which would put their actual cost at 9.6. They don't have the reserves to sell the amount of dollars for the number of people that would "technically" qualify to purchase them.
There isn't an Argie alive that would put those dollars in an Argentine bank after what happened in 2001.
That is modeling it's policies on Venezuela where those same policies failed. I heard this this morning. Shudder!
[QUOTE=MiamiBob;437871]That is modeling it's policies on Venezuela where those same policies failed. I heard this this morning. Shudder![/QUOTE]If you look at what they have been doing, its almost identical! Right down to micro managing every thing and multiple exchange rates. Help the poor and f $ck the working class. Shortages? They have been starting here. Try and get parts for a imported car or washing machine! Try and buy anything but a Argie crap 5 or 6 kilo washing machine today? Nothing else is available! The public hospitals have been turning away people because they have no money to buy the little items.. Like drugs, gauze, detergent to wash their sheets etc. Most public buildings (schools, hospitals, etc). Are way behind in paying utility bills and several have been shut off in the past year. One could go on and on but it just confirms what we all know. Argieland and Chavezville too for that matter is falling into that big black hole of insolvency.
An interesting editorial observation from James Neilson in today's Buenos Aries Herald.
[quote=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/150577/it-is-still-cristina-country]They (Cristina's opposition strategists) also fear the economy is cracking up. But they are in no hurry to speed Cristina’s departure. Though the lady herself likes to accuse the opposition of plotting her downfall, [b]many alleged coup-mongers say they are determined to make her stay in office until the entire economy has collapsed so there can be no doubt as to who was responsible for the disaster[/b]. Of course, that is not the only reason. They all know perfectly well that Cristina’s successor will have to apply an extremely painful austerity programme. While interim president, Eduardo Duhalde managed to get away with one (painful austerity programme) because it was generally agreed that he was not to blame for the mess the country found itself in. Opposition hopefuls want to be given the same leeway even though, for that to happen, Argentina’s economy would have to go into meltdown with Cristina still in the Pink House [b]and not, as Kirchnerites would presumably prefer, several weeks after she decided that enough is enough and her compatriots no longer deserved to be ruled by her.[/b][/quote]
Tuesday, January 28,2014.
Some predict peso could devaluate 55% in 2014.
The peso could reach a trading value of US $9.80 by December 2014, representing a 55-percent annual jump, the local forecasting firm Econométrica predicted yesterday, while US credit-rating agency Moody's put the figure at 50 percent and predicted inflation would reach 30 percent during 2014.
"The BCRA (Central Bank) showed in January it had no intention of freezing the exchange rate so as to not expose its reserves, just like (it had no intention) of letting rates rise so the parallel (dollar) wouldn't jump," Econométrica's monthly report by economist Ramiro Castiñeira suggested. This consultancy was created by José María Dagnino Pastore, who later became an official of the last military dictatorship.
It estimated that by the end of the year the peso would scratch the US $10-mark with a 55 percent jump in its continual devaluation to close at US $9.80, with Moody's Investor Service in in a research note to investors putting its devaluation predictions for Argentina closer to 50 percent for 2014.
The Econométrica report took aim at the national administration's subsidy programme, claiming "the logic of ignoring, for so many years, the deterioration of the electric grid, covering it up with subsidies so reality doesn't hit consumers' pockets, took the fiscal surplus as its victim.".
The rapid depreciation has raised credit risks for banks, insurers and companies with foreign debts, analysts from Moody's Investors Service warned.
"It remains unclear what policies the government plans to pursue to address the underlying causes of capital flight, curb inflation and restore investor confidence," the ratings agency added in a news statement. "Hence, Argentina's credit quality will likely continue to face negative pressure.".
Moody's forecast that price pressures from imports would push inflation upward to over 30 percent in 2014, from what is already one of the world's highest inflation rates.
Meanwhile, the agency gave its reasoning for devaluation as a result of government inaction in reducing deficit. "The devaluation emerges as a direct consequence of a lack of funding to maintain the overvalued exchange rate," Castiñeira's report continued, adding the government's current objective is to remedy the fiscal and external deficits.
"The devaluation that the government tried to avoid all these years and which in 2014 emerged because of its unaffordability, certainly seeks to liquefy general consumption and public spending, in particular so as to reduce accumulated deficits (fiscal and external), of course at the cost of a recessionary year.".
Moody's made a similar analysis, suggesting that while devaluation was a normal measure taken by governments to decrease the outflow of reserves, in this case it was "unlikely" pressure on reserves would diminish.
"Although the devaluation may temporarily stem the pressure on foreign currency reserves, it remains unclear what policies the government plans to pursue to address the underlying causes of capital flight, curb inflation and restore investor confidence," said Moody's in the news statement yesterday.