Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in The Wall Street Journal that the defeat of an export tax proposal put forward by President Christina Kirchner is good news for democracy in Argentina. Kirchner tried to impose an export tax on soy beans by presidential decree, then when that failed, she tried unsuccessfully to get the legislature to pass it.
The Kirchners, husband and wife, have been the last two presidents of Argentina. Based on its natural endowments, Argentina should be the richest, most successful country in Latin America. It isn't. The reason for the shortfall is the Peronist policies of the Kirchners and their predecessors. Runaway government spending is a hallmark of their party. Runaway inflation normally accompanies such spending. Let us hope we are seeing an outbreak of economic common sense in the Argentine.
