MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Argentine trade balance collapsed 60% in August because of the energy import bill
Argentina’s trade balance collapsed 60% during August compared to a year ago because of stagnant exports and the doubling of energy imports according to the latest release from the government’s stats office, Indec. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesOoops. 60% and that's according to INDEC! I wonder what the true figure is?
Sep 24th, 2013 - 08:14 am - Link - Report abuse 0Not long now before the whole thing comes tumbling down, and CFK is seen legging it to a waiting helicopter, which will whisk her away to her stashed away millions overseas.
If the SCOTUS refuses to hear Argentina's appeal, then it'll be all over sooner, rather than later.
And of course, it is the ordinary Argentine citizen that will suffer, as it is their futures - their pensions that the government has stolen.
But in a democracy you get what you vote for. In future the Argentine public should remember that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and sooner or later someone has to pay. This time it will be them, and their children, and probably their grandchildren.
I agree with everything you said. However, let's also remember in a democracy one also get's who they did NOT vote for....lol. I got Bush and Obama.....joy oh joy for me !
Sep 24th, 2013 - 09:30 am - Link - Report abuse 0I would like to elaborate a little more on that comment. I doubt very much that most Argentines voted for what they have now. They voted for the hope the K's offered after a catastrophic crash of the economy. When you have lost everything you cling to the promises of hope, and since there was only one way to go from rock bottom, it must have seemed like the K's were delivering. As many an Argentine has said to me, so what if the government is dipping into the collective pot - they all do it - as long as they 'feel' like everything is getting better and they are benefitting. When you are down and out you only think in the immediacy and not long term.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 10:44 am - Link - Report abuse 0Even the most supportive of the K's amongst my network of Argentines is now disillusioned with what has happened. So, in a very long-winded way, I am qualifying the fact that they have to take responsibility for voting in the government but it is not now the government they voted for.
What the Ks did was not rocket science, they absolved them selves from debt (p (tho prb not in the long run), devalued the currency and stole about U$25B/yr from private entities to plug the hole and keep the subsidies high.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 11:42 am - Link - Report abuse 0You can only keep the gas petal down for so long until the engine fails.
It failed about 3 yrs ago, when all the U$ was gone out of the private sector. Since you can't steal it 2x.
They'e had a good run. The problem is they've used up 2 generations of future wealth to live well for a decade.
I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of this folly.
I can't wait to see what they do to try to get out of this mess
I think we all know what will happen with the electorate.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 12:19 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Half of them will vote for the usual Peronist lies and robbery, the other half (almost) won't bother voting so it will be Peronista scum in power again.
Anybody surprised at the figures given they are INDEC? It looks like they are getting near to 100% collapse to me.
Are we all awaiting SCOTUS with joy? I am because this is just a contract spat and SCOTUS should not accept it, but who knows?
@4 I agree it is not rocket science but as we can see from some of the comments from K supporters on here over recent times, they don't understand it. Actually, I would go so far as to say a lot of people in many countries do not concern themselves with the economics of their country. As long as they are doing alright and the future looks positive they don't much care about the detail. Happathy, it is called.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 01:25 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In the case of Argentina you can add nationalism and misinformation to the mix, add a large slug of indifference to corruption and you have a very ignorant electorate. Ignorant of the reality. Argentines - K supporters in particular -were in a state of Happathy for a long time until reality crept up on them.
It is easy for us to say they deserve it and they should have known better but most people in developing countries are just surviving. They might like to give the impression they have it all but they really don't. One of the things I really liked about Argentines when I first got there was the eternal optimism that they could survive anything because they had hit the bottom so many times and somehow survived. It is probably why so many of them act irresponsibly; why live by the rules of society if no one else is and you could lose everything tomorrow.
Just musing..... :)
We are fast approaching the time when I think they will be capable of doing something stupid like cornered rats. We need a T45 destroyer and a sub permanently in the area for the next 12 months, just in case.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 01:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Elaine, You are correct the only think I would add is the lack of hope for future generations.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 01:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The perfect example of what has happened generally to the middle class over the last 2 generations is summed up with my friends family. His grandparents came from the Basque country in Spain, they did well bought large tracts of farmland and a had many kids, the father died, the land was stolen by partners and the grandmother raised and educated 5 kids on her own, each kid was successful and well educated.
My friend's dad while he was growing up owned 2 factories and employed a hundred people, my friend grew up with some money, house servants, private schools and trips abroad until the 90s, then his Dad not only lost the factories from the multiple economic crashes, he also was personally responsible to pay the employees and had to sell EVERYTHING, so there was no capital to rebuild, he became a very low paid professor and moved to a very small house.
My friend has a good education, knows the world but unfortunately his 2 siblings are not. One had the luxury of still being around $ and getting an education although she has never traveled but the youngest went to public school and then some public college, now works as a waiter and has a child out of wedlock and gets assistance. All he wants to do is drink, smoke pot and have sex. He is 30y/o and still lives at home.
This is the plight of the typical middle class. His family will never recover the $ or status. The next generation will be less educated and poorer than the previous and on and on it goes.
Until they end up like Bolivia
The only thing that has sustained them is farming and a country can't survive in the modern world with only stuff that grows out of the ground. It is just not possible. The price differential is just too great.
It is a sad place and getting sadder every day.
As if we didn't already know.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 02:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Looks bad. We're going to need quite a lot of irrelevant nonsense about school shootings in other countries to deflect from this!
Sep 24th, 2013 - 03:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0But hey, the only person who can dig Argentina out of this mess (and provide another few years of absolute hilarity) is CFK.
We DEMAND you re-elect this bint, it's worth it just for the case study in “how to utterly destroy an industrialised country inside a decade”, let alone the constant chuckles.
@7 I can understand the submarine. In fact, more than one. We need to be able to annihilate “important” parts of argieland. What is the purpose of the Type 45 destroyer? It's an air defence vessel. What will it be defending? What we need is considerable numbers of surface combat vessels. Let's say 6 of them. Destroyers. Then some more frigates. We're losing track. We're building two large aircraft carriers. How much protection do they need? A carrier battle group requires 6 additional vessels. Plus replenishment vessels. Plus, as necessary, assault vessels. Plus more escorts. Britain NEEDS at least 24 escort vessels for its carriers. And more for independent action.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 04:34 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Wishful thinking again Mercopress?
Sep 24th, 2013 - 05:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I have been warning about Rgs devastating their land for a couple years now:
Sep 24th, 2013 - 06:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Argentina is in a critical situation in terms of lack of crop rotation and soil sustainability,” said Maria Fernanda Gonzalez Sanjuan, head of the Fertilizar chamber. The group represents 27 companies that produce, import and sell fertilizers in the South American grains powerhouse.
“Growers are planting too much soy because they want to reduce their risks,” she added. “Soybeans are more resistant to bad weather and government policies in Argentina also favor soy over corn or wheat, both of which are subject to export limits.”
Farmers complain that the limits, which can be raised and lowered through the year, kill competition among buyers and make crop planning impossible.
http://www.agprofessional.com/news/Alarm-in-Argentina-at-over-planting-of-soy-224918352.html
Nothing funnier than former first worlders “musing” of ignorant “third worlders” when their countries are broke and going “broker” each passing second.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 06:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In the UK it's now two generations where one is poorer than the next.
In the USA certainly the current generation is worse off than the last, that is beyond dispute. And most now agree the generation before was worse off than the post-WWII one, only that the effect was totally masked by rampant cheap credit.
LOL, there is nothing funnier than people ignorant and oblivious of their reality thinking it is others who are ignorant and oblivious. Priceless.
Quite a statement there Truth patrol...by the way quick question; why do you use different log in? If I compare my father generation, born 1945, outside toilet, no gas central heating, no car, television. Now I own a car, a house, good old central heating I can travel abroad if I wish, have ample money left over to place into investment funds for my son and family. So please explain how I am poorer than the previous generation. Or are you comparing your own circumstances?
Sep 24th, 2013 - 06:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0@14
Sep 24th, 2013 - 06:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Lmao.
Let me guess, you read it?
One would think an argie blogger would agree, rather than try to change the subject,
Sep 24th, 2013 - 07:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Perhaps some argie bloggers think all is well,
Still,
Some even think she can fly,
Wonders never cease in the land of miracles’..lol
mmmmm
14. Looks like lots of opinion with no facts.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 07:12 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Too bad you'll never know the places your envy so much.
#16 of course he read it, it's not like the kid has ever been anywhere outside of the dump he calls mendoza.....with the mall they built (snicker) last year and the road they are building this year. He is like Canelo Alvarez taking as ass wupping for Mayweather........and he keeps coming back for more.
Sep 24th, 2013 - 07:15 pm - Link - Report abuse 0european and especially french people should learn a lot of things about crazy Argentine economy, but not the things J. Stiglitz/P. Krugman want us to believe : http://www.didierfaivre.com/2013/09/de-la-reforme-de-la-banque-de-france-en-1973-et-de-lexemple-argentin-ou-michel-rocard-vs-jens-weidmann-2/
Sep 24th, 2013 - 08:44 pm - Link - Report abuse 0(paper soon in English)
@4
Sep 24th, 2013 - 11:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0They won´t, most likely, even try to get out the mess. They will do their best just to make it last a bit longer. There seems there not room for “after” on Argentinian minds.
@17. “Some even think she can fly”. Yep, she can: On a broomstick!
Sep 25th, 2013 - 04:44 am - Link - Report abuse 0The gov't thinks farmers are holding back U$3.5B worth of grains waiting on the massive devaluation everyone knows is coming.
Sep 25th, 2013 - 12:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I don't think so
I bet there is a lot less than they think if any at all.
Anyone want to bet AFIP inspectors will get shot at while trying to survey for the grains while on private property?
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