Although I certainly don't have the time myself to deconstruct the HDI
stats for Argentina, even a cursory glance through Lexis-Nexis points in
the direction of how flawed the figures are. They don't take emigration
into account. If emigration was against the law, as it was in the USSR, the
HDI statistics would have been calculated on a much different demographic
base. Unless you take that sort of thing into account, notions of
capitalist progress seem dubious.
Business Week, September 11, 2000
FLY THE BELOVED COUNTRY
By Toby Muse in Buenos Aires
A 25% jobless rate is driving Argentina's young people away
It's a cold winter morning in Buenos Aires, and the line outside the
Italian consulate has not budged in half an hour. Gabriela Capel rubs her
hands together to keep warm as she explains why she has decided to leave
her native country. ''I love Argentina, but there's no hope for me here,''
says the 27-year-old. Since graduating with a degree in administration two
years ago, she has been unable to land a job. So rather than be counted
among Argentina's 2.1 million unemployed, Capel is heading to Italy, where
she hopes to find work as a secretary.
Louis Proyect
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