Argentina
The use of North American (i.e., US) production technologies is thendiscussed, and in the various ways in which these production technologiesare used within Argentina. The effects this has had on the historicaldevelopment of Argentinian industry, and therefore on the development of Key economic ratios and long-term economic trends are thenhighlighted, including figures for 2000-2002 GDP annual aggregate,unemployment rate, literacy rate and inflation. Sources of problems in theArgentinian economy are also highlighted. Finally, the current economic conditions within Argentina arediscussed, in terms of what factors are currently depressing Argentina, andwhat steps are being taken to correct these conditions. Argentina was liberated from Spanish rule in 1816, and immediatelyafter this liberation, a period of political turmoil ensued, with frequentclashes between liberals and conservatives, and between civilians and themilitary (CIA, 2004). This continued for the next century or so, and afterWorld War II, a long period of authoritarian rule ensued, headed first byPeron, and then by a military junta that took power in 1986 (CIA, 2004).
2% of the population under 14 years of age, 63. 9% (at 2002); and the GDP purchasing power parity per capitawas -$10,500 (at 2002). In the period January-November2001, for example, investor uncertainty raised the yield on an Argentine 10-year government bond by about 20 percentage points, which signalled anincreasing unwillingness on the part of investors to hold Argentine debt;in turn, if the public debt/GDP ratio is 65%, this kind of uncertainty canhave more serious repercussions (Moreno, 2002). It is humbling to think that the future of a country can be decidedthrough meetings of officials of the IMF and the World Bank; people, realpeople, are left without money, without pensions, without jobs, withoutfutures, because of this crisis. Imports totalled $9 billion in 2002, and import commodities includedmachinery and equipment, motor vehicles, chemicals, metal manufactures andplastics (CIA, 2004). These developments have surprised many observers becausefor most of the 1990s Argentina was considered a model of successfuleconomic policy, and indeed was a heralded as a beacon of success by manyagencies, such as the IMF and the World Bank (Moreno, 2002). The population - as of July 2003 - was 38,740,807,with 26. The US has a history of investment in Argentina, in particular in themanufacturing industry there, which some people would argue has actuallyled to the current problems in Argentina; as Argentina did not develop orstrengthen its own manufacturing core, the market was open for the US (inparticular, but also in conjunction with others) to exploit the naturalresources within Argentina, and to prevent Argentina from any furtherdevelopment of its manufacturing sector. Many observers have explained the crisis in terms of the deficienciesof Argentina's peg to the U. To put some perspective on the vulnerability implied by thesenumbers, consider the IMF's report (IMF, 2002), which found that theprobability of a debt crisis (involving payment arrears or debtrescheduling) rises to about 15%-20% for countries withexternal debt/GDP ratios above 40% (from around 2%-5% when debt is belowthe threshold) (Moreno, 2002). Argentina is therefore a worrying example forother developing countries, especially as some economists had argued that -pre-crisis - it was a fine example of how developing economies could bemoulded to provide benefits for the populace. Thepopulation is mostly - 97% - white (of Spanish and Italian descent), withthe remaining 3% being of mestizo, Amerindian or other non-white groups(CIA, 2004).
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Acceptance Essays
