Terribly sad report on BBC Radio 4 this morning. Argentina, which was the
fourth most prosperous country in the world and the bread basket of Europe
only a century ago, is now sinking to levels associated with the most
impoverished countries in the world, such as Bangladesh and Nepal. Millions
of people are now surviving only by begging, making compost or by sorting
and re-selling household rubbish thrown out by the minority of those who
still have jobs.
What happened in the course of the last century is that Argentina's
dictators learned how to make themselves popular in difficult times by
giving out large welfare benefits to the public instead of allowing their
economy to operate in the normal way. In order to do this, the politicians
had to borrow repeatedly from banks and other governments -- though
reneging on the loans when due. The result today is that no government will
lend Argentina's politicians any more money (that is, via the IMF -- which
doesn't have money of its own) unless there's evidence that they will
follow normal economic rules, among which would be a sincere intention to
repay.
Some nine or ten months ago, we had a poignant message on FW from Carmen, a
young Argentinian economist who was desperate to know what she and her
young colleagues could do. My advice at the time was that she would have no
chance of influencing events because an inappropriate welfare culture was
still too deeply embedded in the older generation and that this would
firstly have to die out over the next twenty or thirty years before common
sense could prevail. I suggested that she would be well advised to
emigrate. We haven't heard from her since then and I hope she's all right.
Keith Hudson
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Keith Hudson, General Editor, Handlo Music, http://www.handlo.com
6 Upper Camden Place, Bath BA1 5HX, England
Tel: +44 1225 312622; Fax: +44 1225 447727; mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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