While I'm not defending Argentinian politicians, it's not as simple as cronyism and socialism. US government (Clinton & now Bush) and IMF talked Argentina into making some BAD economic moves. First, we encouraged them to peg peso to US$. Then Clinton and Bush keep the US$ artificially high to maintain the inflow of overseas investing that is propping up our stock market, real estate market and overall high standard of living.
Of course, this puts Argentina into a competitive disadvantage with its trading partners, so their economy goes into recession. And they have trouble meeting their debt obligations. So we threaten them with a cutoff of IMF funds unless they CUT government spending and RAISE interest rates - the exact OPPOSITE of what US politicians are now doing when in the Argentinians' shoes.
The thing is, we are only postponing the day when Americans riot like the Argentinians are doing now. When the Baby Boomers realize that their stocks and houses are worth only a fraction of what they paid for them, that Social Security can't help them all, and that they basically spent their children's inheritance on SUVs and trips to Disneyland in the 1990's, they'll be very unhappy campers!
One way they're an incredibly resilient, resourceful people, another way they all play the same stupid games again and again, perhaps because no one, neither the worker or the business owner, has faith one in the other or in the system(s) they continually foist upon each other.
Can't blame 'em really, but at the end of the day, any country is composed of a bunch of 'us' and if 'we' can't get it together, the laws of mathematics will not change accordingly to suit the current insanity du jour.