The balancing act of Alberto Fernandez between populism and free market reforms

Wednesday, September 11th 2019 - 09:57 UTC

Full article 6 comments

Argentina's presidential front-runner Alberto Fernandez is on a tightrope between the interventionist policies of his better-known running mate Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner and the stumbling free-market reforms of incumbent Mauricio Macri. Read full article

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Enrique Massot
Well: it's not that difficult: What Macri did during most of his term? Eliminate all capital flow controls and pay sky-high interest rates, which created massive indebtedness and capital flight.

What did Macri just did? Re-establish some of those capital flow controls to stop the bleeding.

It is clear that Alberto Fernandez must re-establish strong regulations for capitals coming in and going out.

So yes, market players should know that the party is over.

And after all, the debate should be more about people's needs as opposed to that of speculators.
Sep 11th, 2019 - 04:44 pm - Link - Report abuse -4
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Tarquin Fin
“The balancing act of Alberto Fernandez between populism and free market reforms”. This doesn't end well. One of the two sides will get mutilated.
Sep 12th, 2019 - 02:24 am - Link - Report abuse +2
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imoyaro
Tarquin, given past history, I'm more worried about a bullet...
Sep 12th, 2019 - 02:25 am - Link - Report abuse +2
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Tarquin Fin
Or a convenient health issue ... Some rare flu variant from Cuba ...
Sep 12th, 2019 - 04:29 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
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Enrique Massot
Disappointing...very disappointing. I was hoping for some more meat on these MP commentators. Only disjointed thoughts that seem to be more the effects of malaria than analytical, if backward, thinkers.
Sep 15th, 2019 - 06:03 am - Link - Report abuse -2
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Zaphod Beeblebrox
EM,

“I was hoping for some more meat on these MP commentators.”

I don't think that the article needs much comment. Macri inherited a difficult job from the mess that CFK left him with. He's made some improvements with investment in infrastructure and the country's credit rating has steadily improved, but he has indeed failed on many fronts. Alberto will similarly inherit a difficult job from Macri. It looks like the credit rating will reset to what it was under CFK and most things are still a mess, but at least he will have had some of CFK's fines paid for him and better public transport. So he does indeed have a choice between (politically difficult) encouragement of trade and business or an (economically disastrous) return to CFK's policies. You would seem to prefer the latter. Is this because a collapsed peso will make it easy for you to buy a retirement home in Argentina and have a steady reliable income from your CAN$ pension? If not, how do you think Alberto should provide a more balanced approach?

Why does the Argentine electorate believe that the team that got them into the mess is a better option that someone who was starting to improve some things? I have provided data previously that shows this but you think your propaganda trumps facts. It does with the gullible.
Sep 17th, 2019 - 05:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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