Argentina’s incumbent President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner re-election by a landslide 54,4% sends a message to other politicians: “bail the people instead of the banks; in the end, it pays better on the ballots”.
This is a message that the Big Media aren’t eager to spread, but the whisper has started to jump over the fence. Paul Krugman gives a hint here. He does it in his blog at the New York Times while the official report on the issue seems to know better than the Nobel laureate. Funny.
You can read a complete (not so long) report on Argentina’s figures since 2003 and the Kirchners’ way to a steady recovery after the 10+ years of neo-liberal policies that lead the country into a mess of stagnation, high unemployment, shrinking of its industrial base and the world’s biggest default until today.
If you prefer a brief of the conclusions of the paper, here is one.
Carl Buell
November 27, 2011
Interesting viewpoint on the art, even better when you understand the idea behind it. Even the New York Times seems to be afraid to sound too much against Wall Street, and our government certainly did do the “bailout” backwards.
Bob Row
November 27, 2011
Carl, when the late president Kirchner went to bargain with the creditors of the defaulted debt of Argentina he told the bankers: “dead men doesn’t pay”. So they had to eat a big chunk of their credits and reach a new deal tied to the country’s recovery. By that time the soybean prices where in a high (we are the third world provider after USA and Brazil). Kirchner imposed a tax on its exports and used the money to subsidize the energy and transport, so people could save money to buy industrial goods. The country grew at 8-9% annually the next 8 years and paid its dues (except for the “vulture funds”). Other problems lie ahead, but what happens in Europe right now (shrinking their economies) is a ticket to failure. They are trapped by their conservative prejudices.