Argentina is the poster child for the disastrous impact of bad politics on an otherwise blessed-by-nature place. As such, we have tracked its spiral down the drain as addictive Peronism demonstrates its apparently unbreakable hold on the voters of that benighted nation.
Now at Foreign Policy comes a sad elegy for the presidency of Mauricio Macri, expected to end with Sunday’s election. Macri is the first non-Peronist able to complete a four year term, since the end of military rule and return to elected civilian government in 1983.
Macri is not expected to win his reelection bid. Argentinians crave another “fix” of free stuff and demand their government magically produce it. The IMF and international lenders are unlikely to be cooperative in this endeavor.
It may be that, absent military rule, there is no solution for the addiction that is Peronism. Nevertheless, expect repeated efforts like Macri’s, a place with Argentina’s natural advantages is worth saving.
Afterthought: similarly endowed California appears to be in danger of emulating certain aspects of the Argentine experience. CA may be protected from the worst parts thereof by its inability to engage in currency manipulation.
