Posted on 02/08/2013 7:06:01 AM PST by SeekAndFind
If this were not true, it would be unbelieveable. You could not make this up, let alone imagine it. Argentina's food prices are out of control. Just read that title, and ponder what an absurdity that is.
Argentina arguably has the best beef and grain growing regions on the planet. The Pampas are grasslands that run from the cooler south to the subtropical regions of the north. They are roughly equal in size to the United States' agricultural zones; but with only one-eighth the population of the United States, almost all of Argentina's produce is available for export. Argentina has outproduced America in beef products at times. A relatively small population blessed with an enormously large fertile agricultural base; it is inconceivable that Argentina should be having to freeze food prices.
Yet, President Cristina Kirchner's Admistration is having to do just that..
When one looks at Argentina's history, one stands amazed at how its governments can make such abysmally bad decisions with frightening regularity. It beggars description.
Argentina has food, oil, gas, natural wealth, and industry. It has high rates of literacy, with a primarily European population; and no major racial problems. In 1929, it was the fourth richest per capita country on the planet. Only the USA, Britain, and Canada outperformed Argentina. By 1945, after grain and beef sales during the war, even Britain was in debt to Argentina. The first decades of the twentieth century were a period of increasing prosperity and political freedom. The first freely elected government took power in 1916 and by 1929 Argentina was the fourth richest country in the world in terms of income per head. A coup in 1930 ushered in a series of military governments
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita
Argentina has now dropped out of the top 50 countries in per capita income.
How do you wreck a country like Argentina? It should have been the first or second richest country on the planet, surpassing even us Americans.
Food for thought. Pun intended.
They can always eat horse meat.
The last year or so. we'd find the shelf would have only 6 or 7 cans and then go dry for a week or two
Apparently there was a limit in the quantity WalMart could purchase
They've come up with other brands, but they are more like SPAM than corned beef
They have a socialist... possibly fascist government.... what did they think was going to happen??
Ditto Cuba. Cuba has a perfect climate for growing, excellent rainfall, and rich soil. All it takes is the wrong kind of government to turn a paradise into hell on earth.
They will have domestic food shortages because of price controls now, if they don’t already
I’m down to my last case. You’re right about it being harder to find and boy is it expensive now. Haven’t had to buy any for about 2 years now. Guess I’d better restock while you can still find it.
Or, the recoil of beef exported from Argentina circa 1903 is still remembered.
In 2001, Argentina issued government bonds (Sovereign debt) in the American Market that were supposed to be guaranteed by their government.
Their debt collapsed a few years later and investors and bond holders were asked to receive less than 50% on the dollar or nothing.
One Hedge fund manager -— Paul Singer ( of Elliott Management, where coincidentally, Mitt Romney puts some of his money in), REFUSED the Argentinian offer and sued in court. He won too.
Singer has been trying for years and years to get Argentina to pay a 2001 bond it owes in full. Because it recently won a court judgment saying that Argentina owes it money, it was able to get an injunction from the government of Ghana saying it’s entitled to take the ship — ARA Libertad, a training ship owned by the Argentine navy.
Elliott Management and Argentina are learning the hard way, that in an insolvent world where there is no driving force to push the debtor and creditor to reach amicable, if increasingly more unpleasant outcomes (such as Europe, if only for the time being), one has to resolve to ever more unpleasant tactics to get what one believes belongs to them.
What this really means is that Western courts have decided that Elliott has not been stripped of pre-petition rights despite, or rather in spite of, holding out, and is entitled to collecting up to par recovery. There is one problem: there is absolutely no enforcement mechanism!
And therein lies the rub: because how does a court located on Pearl Street in New York order the Argentina State Treasurer located in Buenos Aires to wire a payment on bonds, via intermediary banks, that Argentina effectively has disowned? It can’t. Or rather, it can’t using peaceful means and/or simple M.A.D. coercion of the type one can apply in Europe (remember: Greek creditors had to agree to a massive haircut, and more to come, as the alternative was a Greek default, Grexit, collapse of the Eurozone, dissolution of the EUR, redenomination, massive losses on Spanish and Italian bonds, and who knows what other apocalyptic scenarios). It can, of course, use military means but the time for a Falklands-type escalation has not come yet.
In a few months there will be shortages. The MSM will report them but NEVER tie them to price fixing.
I doubt a Court on Perl Street is able to send troops into Argentina
I read the article and was hoping for more details regarding the cause of the skyrocketing food prices. I understand the general cause, the government interference in their economy, but what is being blamed for this specific action.
My bet is that by freezing the cost of human food, that eventually it will be cheaper for the ranchers to kill their herds and leave them to rot. At some point, the feed grains will become too expensive to sustain beef production.
The leftists never learn that price caps ALWAYS lead to shortages. In this case, they will be letting their own population starve while toasting their “smart” policies that make sure that the food would have cheap prices if it were available.
“Ditto Cuba. Cuba has a perfect climate for growing, excellent rainfall, and rich soil. All it takes is the wrong kind of government to turn a paradise into hell on earth.”
But, but but they have FREE health care! /s
If they can get any at all!
And it's worth every penny.
And therein lies the rub: because how does a court located on Pearl Street in New York order the Argentina State Treasurer located in Buenos Aires to wire a payment on bonds, via intermediary banks, that Argentina effectively has disowned?
You seize the assets (buildings/property) of the Argentinian government located here in the US.
“In a few months there will be shortages.”
More likely in just a few weeks given the inflation rate.
Yep, ditto for the dimwits in the US who don’t understand why energy prices are rising... they aren’t. Our currency is being destroyed.
Argentina and America share many things in common, historically. One was their per capita GDP at the beginning of the 19th century, IIRC. Argentina was one of the top 10 wealthiest nations and Europeans, fleeing poverty, emigrated there.
It is a historic lesson in economic divergence. They took the road to socialism and crony capitalism a lot earlier. FDR was limited, believe it or not.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.