COTTonLINE keeps an eye on developments in Argentina. It is the Latin American country which has the best mix of climate and resources to underpin a developed nation.
What Argentina hasn't had for the past 70 years is a political culture which can sustain development. Its mostly Peronist governments, at the behest of its people, have shown a positive genius at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
It was hoped all that would change with the election of President Mauricio Macri less than 3 years ago. Macri was trained in American business schools, had a successful business career, and promised to reverse the spendthrift policies of Cristina Fernández, his predecessor.
Foreign Policy reports the Macri administration is today in familiar economic trouble, and has turned to the IMF for assistance. It should be noted that, among Argentinians, the IMF is roughly as popular as ebola.
Interestingly, recent announcements that China will purchase more from the U.S. to reduce its trade surplus probably mean it will buy more U.S. soy beans. That translates into buying correspondingly less from Argentina, whose soy bean sales are already lagging. Poor Argentina can't seem to catch a break.
