Adjustment is a hated word imposed by Argentine politics to protect state spending from any attempts at cuts. However, this “devil’s cross” of inflammatory speeches, which integrated the burden of popular ideas and beliefs, only hindered the growth and development of this country.
When imbalances became intolerable, markets chaotically re-established them, and governments followed suit with currency devaluations, social agreements, tariff increases, and so on. Devaluation adjustments that attack effects rather than causes act like a blind sickle that cuts off heads, impoverishing the most vulnerable. For the benefit of those in power and those close to them. In this way, the value of the currency fell and eventually there was no currency left.
of devaluation It was an ineffective substitute for a fundamental fix that no one was willing to undertake. The 50-year-old Argentine has experienced five structural crises (1975, 1982, 1989, 1990, and 2001) that caused institutional chaos. It has also experienced four severe business cycle crises in 1995, 2009, 2018, and 2023. Yet he always chose inflation to avoid populist criticism. In 2012, central bank Similar to the reason for nationalization in 1946, it was to issue more currency to fund the Treasury. julia strada Following his predecessor, he still maintains that budget deficits do not cause inflation. Fernanda Vallejosdisciple of Axel KisilovAccording to him, “a sovereign state does not need to demand money, because it can create money.” No one learned that without a demand for money, emissions would be passed through to prices.
We have gone so far down the wrong path that the word adjustment has come to be associated with devaluation rather than the wisdom of balancing public accounts. Any action other than reducing the costs expended in resisting state pressure in the name of an ethic of solidarity, social justice, or national sovereignty. monetary fundrevenge from external creditors or their local partners.
The ideology supporting the denial of fiscal balance has deep roots. already Christina Kirchner he declared himself an admirer of the German philosopher friedrich hegelOnly the state can overcome the selfish visions of individuals and achieve the common good with its ethical support. Increase public spending to 47% of GDP while adjusting payments explained by driver Oscar Centeno.
The state has no moral superiority over civil society. It is a tool created to improve collective coexistence, but it is exposed to the same miseries of human nature. that’s the reason Octavio Paz call him orcharity organization. Fiscal power, its various funds, the ability to purchase and hire, regulate, prohibit, subsidize, are necessarily used to the benefit of those close to power. And to maintain those financial flows, armed enclaves, and the intangibility of so many privileged jobs. Politics has managed to avoid any real adjustments, sheltered behind the anonymity of devaluation adjustments..
When a country lacks the political will to pull back the curtain that hides the actors, stagehands, props, troupes, and extras that flock to national, local, and city halls, and to expose their salaries, subsidies, extras, travel, bonuses, and incentives to the reality of their work (“you pay me, I make you work”), that country is doomed to fail. Adjustments that pull back that curtain and do not take into account structural programs that emphasize the use of public resources with the same productivity demands demanded of the private sector will end up pushing the population into poverty, despite claims to the contrary.
but, True adjustments cannot be made by those who want to, but by those who are able.. If not accompanied by a confidence shock that lowers country risk, boosts demand for capital, lowers interest rates, induces capital inflows, and truly reinvigorates the economy, “orthodox” policies applied by those who do not believe in them may end in disaster due to a lack of credibility in their beliefs.
Trust is a word that does not integrate populist language.This is because, by definition, improvisation is privileged over institutional parsimony. like a fox La Fontainewhich is why populism despises the grape, because it is a grape that will never ripen and has no ability to produce it. Instead, it preaches an ineffectual “heresy” cut from the mold of its own limitations.
Economists are now raising questions, raising objections, and proposing alternatives. But for now, nothing important is through his expertise. Argentina is surrounded by various problems. paper It also includes essays accumulated over eight decades, including political support for pending reforms. As mentioned in this column, this is the first time that an economist has reached the first judgeship. This combination between the correct vademekam and the political will to apply it is the major difference that distinguishes this administration from previous administrations..
Institutions are rules of the game adopted in the public interest that balance current demands with future needs. They are the main pillars of society, so one person can trust another and together they can make the country their shared home. During this fragile transition period, all government actions must be evaluated on a rigid basis: whether they increase or decrease trust. Governments, driven by the need to make concessions for reform and address legitimate demands from affected sectors, must avoid tilting toward populist causalism and maintain that goal at all costs.
Trust is strengthened when there is a consensus that strengthens the will to change.. From the strength of the popular vote to parliamentary majorities through the support of the governor and various actors in civil society. The first has been achieved, the second is underway, and the third depends on whether they have an epiphany and can imagine the dire consequences of the proposed changes.