Posted on 03/31/2010 7:09:55 AM PDT by C19fan
When White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel last year advised "never waste a good crisis," he likely was thinking ahead to President Obama's economic stimulus program and health care plan. After swelling the federal deficit by passing the stimulus at a cost of nearly $1 trillion, Democrats in Congress signed off on Obamacare, with a price tag, according to Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., of $2.3 trillion in its first decade alone. With federal spending exploding at such a rate, it's no wonder that Moody's Investor Service recently warned that it would downgrade the U.S. government's credit rating if it concludes "the government was unable and/or unwilling to quickly reverse the deterioration it has incurred."
What the United States government will do in the future may be in question, but we need not look far to find past examples of countries unwilling to get their finances in order. Consider Argentina. In 1914, it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world, and its living standard exceeded that of Western Europe until the late 1950s. Then President Juan Peron squandered his nation's prosperity by introducing a host of redistributionist economic and regulatory policies, nationalizing utilities and foreign investments, and pumping up the national debt. What followed was three decades of political instability, growing dependency, and economic stagnation.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Argentina with nukes.
And if you don't have a good crisis or enough of them, generate some.
ML/NJ
Argentina was a really modern country until Socialism "Shared the Misery".
I just returned from Argentina yesterday.... a two week stay. A beautiful old city built from yesteryear. Although the quality of life may not be what it was in its hey day, there are signs of hope for a better future.
The two big issues that stood out to me where INFLATION at a staggering rate due to government controls on markets especially BEEF. Yes BEEF. Did you know that the best meat is for export only and not the public. Price controls keep the masses eating average grade meats. Meanwhile in Uruguay next door they are closing the gap on Argentina with FREE MARKET business models and YES the meals there are better!
Second, there is still much kaos and fear with currency. Many vendors, taxis and such want US dollars. Counterfeit money is also out of control. Nobody wants a $100 AR note ($25US) as the risk of getting a fake is big as well a getting much change as fake too. We even got a fake 100 from a bank ATM!
On Sunday we went to the famous antique markets of San Telmo. We bought a vintage iron piece from a man who spoke good english. We made the deal in dollars. It was only $160US but easier for him. We spoke about our experience with the fake money. He looked me in the eye in a sad way, shook his head and said “this is my country”.
I just returned from Argentina yesterday.... a two week stay. A beautiful old city built from yesteryear. Although the quality of life may not be what it was in its hey day, there are signs of hope for a better future.
The two big issues that stood out to me where INFLATION at a staggering rate due to government controls on markets especially BEEF. Yes BEEF. Did you know that the best meat is for export only and not the public. Price controls keep the masses eating average grade meats. Meanwhile in Uruguay next door they are closing the gap on Argentina with FREE MARKET business models and YES the meals there are better!
Second, there is still much kaos and fear with currency. Many vendors, taxis and such want US dollars. Counterfeit money is also out of control. Nobody wants a $100 AR note ($25US) as the risk of getting a fake is big as well a getting much change as fake too. We even got a fake 100 from a bank ATM!
On Sunday we went to the famous antique markets of San Telmo. We bought a vintage iron piece from a man who spoke good english. We made the deal in dollars. It was only $160US but easier for him. We spoke about our experience with the fake money. He looked me in the eye in a sad way, shook his head and said “this is my country”.
We need CONTROL's Agent 86.
No, Agent 99 would be much better.
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