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{{Short description|none}}
{{Infobox Economy
{{Good article}}
|country = Argentina
{{Use American English|date=February 2019}}
|image = Buenos_Aires-2672f-Banco_de_la_Naci%C3%B3n_Argentina.jpg
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
|width = 260
{{History of Argentina}}
|currency = [[Argentine Peso]] ([[Argentine Peso|ARS]])
[[File:Argentiniangdp.png|thumb|Historical development of GDP per capita<ref>https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/gdp-per-capita-maddison?tab=chart&yScale=log&time=1880..latest&country=~ARG</ref>]]
|year = Calendar year
[[File:Argentina Inflation.webp|thumb|261px|Argentina Inflation
|organs = [[World Trade Organization|WTO]], [[Mercosur]], [[Union of South American Nations|Unasur]]
{{legend|#F69F68|Year over Year inflation|outline=#F27200}}
|rank = 23<sup>rd</sup>
{{legend-line|red solid 3px|M2 money supply increases Year over Year}}
|gdp = $523.7 billion (2007)<ref name=imf>[http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2008/01/weodata/weorept.aspx?pr.x=57&pr.y=13&sy=2006&ey=2013&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=213%2C273%2C228%2C298%2C299&s=PPPPC&grp=0&a= IMF estimates for 2007 GDP PPP per capita]</ref>
{{legend|#00A2FF|Month over Month inflation|outline=#00A2FF}}
|growth = 8.7% (2007)
]]
|per capita = $13,307 (2007)<ref name=imf/> ([[List of countries by GDP (PPP) per capita|57<sup>th</sup>]])
[[File:USD to Argentina Currency Exchange Rates.webp|thumb|261px|[[United States dollar|USD]] / Argentina Currency Exchange Rates {{see also|Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency}}]]
|sectors = [[Agriculture]], 9.4%; [[mining]], 4.8%; [[manufacturing]], 21.5%; [[construction]], 6.3%; [[commerce]] and [[tourism]], 14.4%; [[transport]], [[communications]] and [[utilities]], 10.0%; [[finance]], [[real estate]] and [[business]] services, 16.8%; [[government]], [[social services]] and other, 16.8%. ([[2007]])<ref name="autogenerated3">[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/download/infoeco/actividad_ied.xls Economy Ministry]</ref>
[[File:Historical GDP growth of Argentina.png|thumb|Evolution of GDP growth]]
|inflation = 8.7% (9/2008)
''Implicit GDP prices:'' 19% (II 2008)<ref name="autogenerated3"/>
''Private estimate:'' 18% (10/2008)<ref>[http://www.inflacionverdadera.com/ Inflación Verdadera]</ref>
|poverty = 20.6% (March 2008)<ref name=INDEC>[http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/74/lineas1.xls INDEC]</ref>
|gini = 0.483 (2006)
|labor = 15.35 million (2006) ''categories'': private-sector employees, 49%; employers and the self-employed, 27%; public-sector employees, 21%; unpaid family workers, 3%.<ref name=indec>[http://www.indec.mecon.ar/ INDEC]</ref>
|occupations = Agricultural, 7.3%; manufacturing, 13.1%; construction, 7.6%; commerce and tourism, 21.4%; transport, communications and utilities, 7.8%; financial, real estate and business services, 9.4%; public administration and defense, 6.3%; social services and other, 27.1%. (2006)<ref name=empleo>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/secpro/dir_cn/ingreso.htm MECON]</ref>
|unemployment = 8.0% (June 2008)<ref name=indec/>
|industries = [[Food processing]], [[motor vehicles]] (545,000 in 2007), consumer durables, [[textiles]], [[chemicals]] and [[petrochemicals]], [[printing]], [[metallurgy]], [[steel]].
|exports = US$56 billion (2007)
|export-partners = [[Brazil]], 17.6%; [[Chile]], 9.5%; [[United States]], 8.9%; [[China]], 7.9%; [[Spain]], 4.0%. (2006)
|export-goods = Soybeans and byproducts, 24.1%; motor vehicles and parts, 9.6%; cereals (mostly maize and wheat), 8.3%; refined fuels, 6.9%; chemicals, 5.3%; aluminum and steel, 5.1%; natural gas and petroleum, 4.6%; other industrial products, 11.1%; all other (mostly processed agricultural products), 25.0%. (2007)<ref name="autogenerated4">[http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/19/ica_01_08.pdf INDEC]</ref>
|imports = US$45 billion (2007)
|import-partners = [[Brazil]], 34.4%; [[United States]], 12.6%; [[China]], 9.2%; [[Germany]], 4.5%; [[Mexico]], 3.3%. (2006)
|import-goods = Industrial machinery and parts, 41.3%; industrial supplies, 34.6%; automobiles and other consumer durables, 12.4%; refined fuels and lubricants, 6.3%; all other (mostly consumer non-durables), 5.4%. (2007)<ref name="autogenerated4"/>
|debt = 41.2% of GDP, US$146.7 billion (Treasury securities, 69%; direct loans, 27%); of which external, US$70.5 bil. (6/2008)<ref name=dsbb>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/progeco/dsbb.htm MECON Updates]</ref>
|revenue = US$64.2 billion (2007) (value-added taxes, 31.4%; taxes on income and capital gains, 22.1%; social security, 17.7%; customs duties, 14.4%; other, 14.4%)<ref>[http://www.afip.gov.ar/institucional/estudios/archivos/Informe.4.trimestre.2007.pdf AFIP]</ref>
|expenses = US$55.6 billion (2007) (social security, 30.9%; health, 14.3%; debt service, 11.6%; energy and infrastucture, 11.6%; education, 6.8%; labor programs, 6.4%; defense, 6.4%; other, 12.0%)<ref>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/peconomica/docs/gp_nac.xls Economy Ministry]</ref>
}}


The '''economic history of Argentina''' is one of the most studied, owing to the "Argentine paradox". As a country, it had achieved advanced development in the early 20th century but experienced a reversal relative to other developed economies, which inspired an enormous wealth of literature and diverse analysis on the causes of this relative decline.<ref name="findev">{{cite journal |last1=della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |title=Finance and Development in an Emerging Market: Argentina and the Interwar Period |doi=10.3386/w6236 |journal=NBER Working Paper No. 6236 |page=1 |date=October 1997 |doi-access=free }}</ref> Since [[Argentine Declaration of Independence|independence from Spain in 1816]], the country has defaulted on its debt nine times. Inflation has often risen to the double digits, even as high as 5,000%, resulting in several large [[Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency|currency devaluations]].
'''Argentina''' benefits from rich [[natural resources]], a highly literate population, an export-oriented [[agricultural sector]] and a diversified [[industry|industrial]] base. Historically, however, [[Argentina]]'s economic performance has been very uneven. Early in the twentieth century it was one of the richest countries in the world,<ref>Maddison, Angus. ''The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective''--cited at http://www.cei.gov.ar/revista/06/parte%204beng.pdf</ref> though it is now an upper-middle income country. Argentina is considered an [[emerging economy]] by the [[FTSE]] Global Equity Index and still benefits from Latin America's highest [[Human Development Index]].


[[Argentina]] possesses definite [[comparative advantage]]s in agriculture because the country is endowed with a vast amount of highly [[Soil fertility|fertile land]].{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=4}} Between 1860 and 1930, exploitation of the rich land of the [[pampas]] strongly pushed economic growth.<ref name="aega"/> During the first three decades of the 20th century, Argentina outgrew Canada and Australia in population, total income, and per capita income.<ref name="aega">{{cite book|title=Agriculture and economic growth in Argentina, 1913–84|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8uv7WrI4cE4C&pg=PA12|publisher=International Food Policy Research Institute|author1=Yair Mundlak |author2=Domingo Cavallo |author3=Roberto Domenech |page=12|year=1989|isbn=978-0896290785}}</ref> By 1913, Argentina was among the world's ten wealthiest states per capita.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Spruk |first=Rok |date=2019 |title=The rise and fall of Argentina |journal=Latin American Economic Review |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=16 |doi=10.1186/s40503-019-0076-2 |issn=2196-436X |doi-access=free }}</ref>
== Historical overview ==
===Argentina's emergence into the world economy===
Prior to the 1880s, Argentina was seen as a backwater region of the world, dependent on the leather and hide industry for both the greater part of its foreign exchange and the generation of domestic income and profits; around 1870, the Argentine economy began to experience swift growth through the export of its livestock and grain commodities.<ref name=Johnson>Johnson, Lyman. ''Distribution of Wealth in 19th Century Buenos Aires Province''. Univ. of New Mexico Press, 1994.</ref> This marked the beginning of a significant era of economic expansion; during its most vigorous period, from 1880 to 1905, this expansion resulted in a 7.5-fold growth in GDP, averaging about 8% annually. One important measure of development, GDP per capita, rose from 35% of the [[United States]] average to about 80% during that period.<ref>[http://www.jorgeavilaopina.com/?p=61 Jorge Ávila]</ref> Growth then slowed considerably, though throughout the period from 1890 to 1939, the country's per capita income was similar to that of [[France]], [[Germany]] and [[Canada]]<ref>[http://www.chrisblattman.org/BHW2004-NBERw10600pdf Blattman]</ref> (income in Argentina remained considerably less evenly distributed).<ref name=Johnson/>


Beginning in the 1930s, the Argentine economy deteriorated notably.<ref name="aega"/> The single most important factor in this decline has been political instability since 1930 when a military junta [[1930 Argentine coup d'état|took power]], ending seven decades of civilian constitutional government.<ref name="econbsc"/> In macroeconomic terms, Argentina was one of the most stable and conservative countries until the [[Great Depression]], after which it turned into one of the most unstable.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=87}} Despite this, up until 1962, the Argentine [[per capita GDP]] was higher than that of Austria, Italy, Japan, and of its former colonial master, Spain.<ref>[https://www.google.com/publicdata/explore?ds=d5bncppjof8f9_&met_y=ny_gdp_pcap_cd&idim=country:NZL:AUS:USA&hl=pt&dl=pt#!ctype=l&strail=false&bcs=d&nselm=h&met_y=ny_gdp_pcap_cd&scale_y=lin&ind_y=false&rdim=region&idim=country:ARG:AUT:JPN:ESP:ITA&ifdim=region&tstart=-301611600000&tend=1433991600000 GDP per capita graph 1960–2015] by [[Google Public Data Explorer]], sources from [[World Bank]]</ref>{{bettersource||source only shows it to be higher in the year 1962 itself, not for any previous year|date=April 2023}} Successive governments from the 1930s to the 1970s pursued a strategy of [[import substitution]] to achieve industrial [[autarky|self-sufficiency]], but the government's encouragement of industrial growth diverted investment from agricultural production, which fell dramatically.<ref name="britarg"/>
====The development of land====
[[Image:Gaucho.jpg|thumb|180px|left|An 1887 impression of a ''[[gaucho]]'' at ease. Gauchos helped livestock ranching extend through much of Argentina.]]


The era of import substitution ended in 1976, but at the same time growing government spending, large wage increases, and inefficient production created a [[chronic inflation]] that rose through the 1980s.<ref name="britarg"/> The measures enacted during the [[National Reorganization Process|last dictatorship]] also contributed to the huge [[foreign debt]] by the late 1980s which became equivalent to three-fourths of the [[Gross National Product|GNP]].<ref name="britarg"/>
Since becoming a nation in 1816, Argentina, being the eighth largest country in the world by [[List of countries by area|area]], has held an advantage in this [[factor of production]]. In the early nineteenth century the rural economy was almost entirely devoted to subsistence farming and above all, livestock raising, which spread quickly in Argentina's mild climate. Moreover, during periods of falling prices for their products ranchers were able to maintain positive returns, proving their resilience in a volatile market. Over the next few decades, cattle and sheep ranchers became the most influential men in Argentina, as their exports became the unstable young country's nearly sole source of foreign exchange.<ref>Brown, Jonathan. ''A Socioeconomic History of Argentina''. Cambridge University Press, 1979.</ref>


In the early 1990s, the government reined in inflation by making the [[Argentine peso|peso]] equal in value to the U.S. dollar and [[Privatization|privatized]] numerous state-run companies using part of the proceeds to reduce the national debt.<ref name="britarg"/> However, a sustained recession at the turn of the 21st century [[Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002)|culminated in a default]], and the government again devalued the peso.<ref name="britarg"/> By 2005 the economy had recovered,<ref name="britarg"/> but the country again defaulted in 2014 and 2020.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Alexandra Stevenson|author2=Irene Caselli|title=Argentina Is in Default, and Also Maybe in Denial|url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/07/31/argentina-is-in-default-and-also-maybe-in-denial/|newspaper=NYTimes.com|access-date=1 August 2014|date=2014-07-31}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Politi|first=Daniel|date=2020-05-22|title=Argentina Tries to Escape Default as It Misses Bond Payment|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/world/americas/argentina-default.html|access-date=2020-05-24|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
Labor-intensive crop farming languished for much of this era, the victim of internecine wars, an acute shortage of labor, a lack of qualified agronomists and livestock ranchers themselves. Following a decade of revolution, however, focus changed toward the development of grain farming and after 1861, during [[Bartolome Mitre]]'s difficult presidency, the first institute of [[Agronomy]] and the first initiatives encouraging immigration were given life.<ref name="scarecrow">''Historical Dictionary of Argentina''. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978.</ref>


==Colonial economy==
Livestock raising required relatively few ''gauchos'' and continued to dominate land use; but, in 1875, the first Argentine grain shipment to arrive intact in Europe ignited an agricultural boom that soon replaced vast tracts of lands once devoted to livestock with "waves of grain." British capital and European immigration quickly followed, easing capital, skills and labor shortfalls without which the development of modern Argentina would not have been possible.<ref name="scarecrow"/>
[[File:Gaucho1868b.jpg|thumb|upright|An 1868 photo of a ''[[gaucho]]''. Gauchos helped livestock ranching extend through much of Argentina.]]
[[File:Gonnet carretas 1864.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Field wagons ("carretas") were introduced by the Spaniards at the end of the 16th century as transport for passengers and goods.]]
During the [[Colonial Argentina|colonial period]], present-day Argentina offered fewer [[economic advantages]] compared to other parts of the [[Spanish Empire]], such as [[Mexico]] or [[Peru]], which caused it to assume a peripheral position within the Spanish colonial economy.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=22}} It lacked deposits of gold or other precious metals{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=23}} and did not have established native civilizations to subject to the ''[[encomienda]]''.


Only two-thirds of its present territory were occupied during the colonial period, while the remaining third consisted of the [[Patagonian Plateau]] which remains sparsely populated to this day.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=23}} The agricultural and livestock sector's output was principally consumed by the producers themselves and by the small local market. They only became associated with foreign trade towards the end of the 18th century.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=22}}
====The development of the labor market====
[[Image:Hotel Inmigrantes Buenos Aires.jpg|thumb|left|300px|Built in 1906 to welcome the hundreds of newcomers arriving daily, the Immigrants' Hotel is now a national museum.]]


The period between the 16th and the end of the 18th century was characterized by the existence of self-sufficient regional economies separated by considerable distances, a lack of road, maritime or river communications, and the hazards and hardship of land transport.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=32}} By the end of the 18th century, a significant national economy came into being as Argentina developed a market in which reciprocal flows of capital, labor, and goods could take place on a significant scale between its different regions, which it had hitherto lacked.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=32}}
[[Immigration in Argentina|Immigration]] was central to Argentina's development. Prior to the 1860s, there was relatively little migration into the country; the population in 1869 was less than 2 million and, due to the sparse population, vast tracts of land remained unutilized. Labour shortages became widespread, resulting in the growth of real wages and, consequently, an increasing gap between the wage rates of Argentina and Europe. This facilitated a nearly-uninterrupted mass immigration until [[World War I]] and by 1914, one third of [[Argentina]]'s 8 million people had been born elsewhere, mostly in [[Italy]] and [[Spain]].<ref name="Crawley">Crawley, Eduardo. ''A House Divided: Argentina, 1880-1980''. St. Martin's Press, 1985</ref>


In the colonial period, the territories that now make up Argentina were subject, like the rest of the Spanish territories in the Americas, to legal restrictions regarding how and with whom trade could be conducted. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, trade directly through the port of Buenos Aires, rather than via the official system of fleets out of the port of Lima in modern Perú, was forbidden except through special permission from the Crown.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moutoukias|first=Zacarías|date=1988|title=Power, Corruption and Commerce: The Making of the Local Administrative Structure in Seventeenth-Century Buenos Aires|journal=Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=68| issue = 4|page=774|doi=10.1215/00182168-68.4.771|doi-access=free}}</ref> In practice, however, this did not mean that the colonial economy of what is now Argentina was closed to trade.
In all, about 5 million [[Demographics of Europe|Europeans]] migrated to Argentina permanently between 1857 and 1946<ref name=Rock>Rock, David. ''Argentina: 1516-1982''. University of California Press, 1987.</ref><ref>[http://www.argentina.gov.ar/argentina/portal/img/grafico_inmigracion.gif Argentina.gov]</ref> and another 3 million passed through as seasonal workers, often moving on to the [[United States]].<ref name="scarecrow"/> Because the immigrants that stayed were much less likely to be field laborers than those that moved on, immigration helped quickly urbanize Argentina and its urban population tripled to over 4 million between 1895 and 1914, alone.<ref>[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybsets/1952%20DYB.pdf UN]</ref> The establishment of a [[Education in Argentina|national system]] of free, universal grade schools by Education Minister (and later, President) [[Domingo Sarmiento]] during the 1860s and 1870s raised literacy rates from 22% in 1869 to 65% in 1914 and helped further consolidate a modern labor structure.<ref name="scarecrow"/>


In addition to trade with Brazil and Guinea, which was legalized in the early seventeenth century, colonial Buenos Aires also conducted trade directly with Spain and other European powers through the so-called ''navíos de registro''— ships with royal permission to sail outside the official fleet or [[Spanish treasure fleet]] system to conduct specific services, such as transport soldiers. Dutch and Basque merchants in particular played an important role, in partnership, in managing the system of ''navíos de registro'' to conduct trans-Atlantic trade with Buenos Aires. Even more important than the ''navíos'' was a system of contraband trade into which the ''navíos'' were inserted. Thus, in the second half of the seventeenth century an estimated 200 ships entered the port of Buenos Aires without any permission at all, as opposed to 34 ''navíos de registro''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moutoukias|first=Zacarías|date=1988|title=Power, Corruption and Commerce|journal=Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=68| issue = 4|pages=774–775, 780–784|doi=10.1215/00182168-68.4.771|doi-access=free}}</ref> On top of this system of largely technically illegal transatlantic trade was the ''situado'' system of funding from the royal treasury in Potosí, in Upper Peru, which supplied the military garrison in Buenos Aires. In practice, the ''situado'' funded, through a system of credit, a local economy in Buenos Aires which was itself inserted into the contraband economy.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moutoukias|first=Zacarías|date=1988|title=Power, Corruption and Commerce|journal=Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=68| issue = 4|pages=787–789|doi=10.1215/00182168-68.4.771|doi-access=free}}</ref>
[[Image:Ucranians cropping yerba mate in Tres Capones.jpg|thumb|left|Ukrainian immigrants harvesting ''[[yerba mate]]'', 1920. Immigrants found rural and urban work, becoming indispensable to both.]]


Argentinian historian Zacarías Moutoukias argues that this system of trade, in which Buenos Aires was linked with the mining economy of the Andes through the ''situado'' and to cross-Atlantic trade through contraband and the ''navíos de registro'', created an integrated political and commercial elite in Buenos Aires, made up of military officers, Crown officials and local merchants, and a political economy in which “corruption”— that is, the violation of royal laws regarding trade— was not an aberration but rather a defining characteristic.  For Moutoukias, “corruption” in this context was simply “the violation of a fixed set of norms that limited the integration of the crown’s representatives with the local oligarchy”— a violation that was tacitly tolerated by the Crown because it was lucrative.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Moutoukias|first=Zacarías|date=1988|title=Power, Corruption and Commerce|journal=Hispanic American Historical Review|volume=68| issue = 4|page=777|doi=10.1215/00182168-68.4.771|doi-access=free}}</ref>
This mending of the labor problem facilitated economic development. Immigrants, as an important factor of production, were able to alleviate the labor shortage and so, helped diversify Argentina's commodity exports. The livestock, leather and wool sectors had dominated production since the eighteenth century;<ref name=scarecrow/> but the sudden abundance in labor supply allowed the development of the arable sector.


Historians like [[Milcíades Peña]] consider this historical period of the Americas as pre-[[capitalism|capitalist]], as most production of the coastal cities was destined to overseas markets.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=117}} [[Rodolfo Puiggrós]] consider it instead a [[Feudalism|feudalist]] society, based on work relations such as the [[encomienda]] or slavery.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=117}} [[Norberto Galasso]] and [[Enrique Rivera]] consider that it was neither capitalist nor feudalist, but a hybrid system result of the interaction of the Spanish civilization, on the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and the natives, still living in prehistory.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=117}}
Argentina's commodity export market became less dependent on [[Argentine beef|beef]] and quickly diversified into [[wheat]] and [[maize]]. Accessible education and the relatively capital-intensive nature of [[Agriculture in Argentina|Argentine agriculture]] itself (which, as early as 1895, employed only a third of all labor)<ref>''Second General Census of Population and Housing, 1895''.</ref> helped likewise redirect most of this immigrant labor into the service and industrial sectors and for the most part, this helped fortify the country against market shocks (though certainly not internal, social or political disturbances), contributing to the overall, successful level of development the country experienced between 1870 and 1930.


The Argentine territories, held back by their [[closed economies]], the lack of any activity closely linked to foreign trade, and the scant amounts of labor and capital they consequently received, fell far behind those of other areas of the colonial world that participated in foreign trade.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=24}} Only activities associated with a dynamic exporting centre enjoyed some degree of prosperity, as occurred in [[Tucuman]], where cloth was manufactured, and in [[Córdoba Province, Argentina|Córdoba]] and the [[Argentine littoral|Litoral]], where livestock was raised to supply the mines of [[Upper Peru]].{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=24}}
====The development of capital markets====
Like immigration, foreign investment played a central role in Argentina's economic development. Prior to [[World War I]], it could be said that Argentina's capital investment ''was'' foreign capital investment and immigrants as well as foreign investment flocked to Argentina.


This trade was legally limited to Spain: the Spanish Crown enforced a [[monopsony]] which limited supplies and enabled Spanish merchants to mark up prices and increase profits.{{sfn|Rock|1987|p=5}} British and Portuguese merchants broke this monopsony by resorting to contraband trade.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Williams|first=Judith Blow|title=The Establishment of British Commerce with Argentina|journal=The Hispanic American Historical Review|date=February 1935|volume=15|issue=1|pages=43–64|doi=10.2307/2506227|jstor=2506227}}</ref>
[[Image:La Porteña.jpg|thumb|260px|In 1857, ''La Porteña'' became the first locomotive to operate in Argentina.]]


Other scholars reject the label of “feudal” to describe Argentine economy and society during the colonial period. Historian Jeremy Adelman, for example, describes an agrarian economy in the Argentinian interior in which both wage labor and production for the market were quite common during the colonial period. In the seventeenth century, this included the development of textile workshops (''obrajes''), the raising of mules for transport and the hunting of feral cattle herds to produce meat, leather and tallow— all of these economic activities supplied the mining economy of Potosí in the Andes. In the 18th century, the depletion of feral cattle herds led to the development of settled livestock agriculture in the Argentine Littoral as well as in inland regions. The relative lack of extra-economic coercion due to ample access to land on the agrarian frontier, the prevalence of wage labor, the variety of types of land tenure (ownership, tenancy, a spectrum of usufruct rights) as well as a lack of a fixed and hegemonic landed elite all lead Adelman to reject the label of “feudalism” to describe the agrarian economy of what now makes up Argentina during the colonial period.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Adelman, Jeremy.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/85828915|title=Republic of capital : Buenos Aires and the legal transformation of the Atlantic world|date=1999|publisher=Stanford University Press|isbn=978-0804764148|location=Stanford, Calif.|pages=33–36|oclc=85828915}}</ref>
The [[United Kingdom]] contributed more direct investment into Argentina during this period than all other sources combined, as it did for many other Latin American states in that era. Large-scale British investment began around 1875 and by 1890, British nationals held a cumulative 180 million [[Pound Sterling|pounds Sterling]] (over US$800 million) in direct investments. Argentina had become, by then, the leading destination for British investment in the world.<ref name="autogenerated5">[http://www.cema.edu.ar/ceieg/arg-rree/10/10-002a.htm CEMA.edu]</ref> Though most of these funds found their way into productive activities such as [[Rail transport in Argentina|railways]], [[mortgage bank]]ing and [[public services]], fully a third was channelled into Argentine government [[Bond (finance)|bonds]].


The British desire to trade with South America grew during the [[Industrial Revolution]] and the loss of their 13 colonies in North America during the [[American Revolution]]. To achieve their economic objectives, Britain initially launched the [[British invasions of the Río de la Plata]] to conquer key cities in Spanish America but they were defeated by the local forces of what is now Argentina and Uruguay not once but twice without the help of Spain.{{sfn|Abad de Santillán|1965|p=391–392}} When they allied to Spain during the [[Napoleonic Wars]], they requested the Spanish authorities to open commerce to Britain in return.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=127}}
[[Image:Cerveceria Quilmes.jpg|thumb|left|210px|Immigrants themselves became a source of capital formation, as in the case of the Bembergs, who opened Argentina's largest brewery, Quilmes, in 1883.]]
[[File:Enlazando ganado en las pampas - Fernando Brambilla - 1794.jpg|thumb|left|Lassoing cattle in the pampas, 1794 lithography by Fernando Brambilla.]]
The first Argentine historians, such as [[Bartolomé Mitre]], attributed the free trade to ''[[The Representation of the Hacendados]]'' economic report by [[Mariano Moreno]], but is currently considered the result of a general negotiation between Britain and Spain, as reflected in the [[Apodaca-Canning treaty]] of 1809.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=128}} The actions of [[Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros]] in Buenos Aires reflected similar outcomes emanating from the other Spanish cities of South America.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=128}}


Compared to other parts of Latin America, [[Slavery in the Spanish New World colonies|slavery]] played a much lesser role in the development of the Argentine economy, mostly because of the absence of gold mines and sugar plantations, which would have demanded huge numbers of slave workers.<ref name=bha>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Jonathan C.|title=A brief history of Argentina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CKrspt4CDskC&pg=PA40|publisher=Infobase Publishing|page=39|year=2009|isbn=978-0816077960}}</ref> [[Colonial Brazil]], for example, imported as many as 2.5 million Africans in the 18th century.<ref name=bha/> By contrast, an estimated 100,000 African slaves arrived at the port of Buenos Aires in the 17th and 18th centuries, and many were destined for Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia.<ref name=bha/>
Lured by high rates of return, underwriters like the influential [[Barings Bank]] made Argentine and [[Uruguay]]an bonds the darlings of [[London]] derivatives speculators during the 1880s. These instruments began to lose value towards 1890, however, and before most investors could unload them, the [[pyramid scheme]] Barings seemed to have built up [[panic of 1890|collapsed]]. So serious were these losses (some involving the most prominent British families), only intervention by the [[Bank of England]] averted a possible financial crisis.


The colonial livestock ranches were established toward the middle of the 18th century.{{sfn|Ferrer|1967|p=23}} The pace of growth in the region increased dramatically with the establishment in 1776 of the new [[Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata]] with Buenos Aires as its capital, and increased legal trading allowed by the [[Bourbon Reforms#In Spanish America|Free Trade Act of 1778]],<ref name=aars>{{cite book|last=Migden Socolow|first=Susan|title=The bureaucrats of Buenos Aires, 1769–1810: amor al real servicio|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNsdB3tdKh4C&pg=PA2|publisher=Duke University Press|page=2|year=1987|isbn=978-0822307532}}</ref> which allowed for "free and protected" trade between Spain and its colonies.{{sfn|Rock|1987|p=40}} This trade system disintegrated during the [[Napoleonic era]], and contraband became common again.{{sfn|Rock|1987|p=40}}
[[Image:Banco Hipotecario (actual Banco Central).jpg|thumb|A view, [[Circa|c.]]1880, of the National Mortgage Bank, which contributed to the early development of Argentina's large middle class.]]


==Post-independence transition==
This instability notwithstanding, Argentina stood out among [[Latin America]]n states in terms of [[foreign direct investment]] received during this era. Investment and thus the economy soon recovered; by 1914, Argentina's public external debt stood at US$784 million in (mostly) 4<small>1/2</small>% bonds, with a further US$3.217 billion in foreign direct investment<ref>Bulmer-Thomas, Victor. ''The Economic History of Latin America since Independence.'' Cambridge University Press, 2003.</ref>. Nearly half of all British direct investments worldwide had, by then, been plowed into the Argentine economy.<ref name="autogenerated5" />
During the early post-independence period, an important share of Argentina's exports came from cattle and sheep production.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}} The livestock-raising economy was based upon the abundance of fertile land in the [[Argentine littoral|littoral provinces]].{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}} Cropping apparently lacked comparative advantage compared to livestock grazing.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}}


Exports rose 4% to 5% annually from 1810 to 1850 and 7% to 8% from 1850 to 1870.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=21}} This growth was achieved through the extension of the frontier and greater efficiency in livestock production.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=22}}
Argentine development, the [[Rail transport in Argentina|railways]] and [[Argentine beef|meat-packing industry]] in particular, would have been severely limited without these investments. Domestic credit was scarce and start-up costs were often beyond the reach of local investors ''per se''. Argentina's agricultural sector itself, however, developed into an export powerhouse that alone brought in nearly a billion dollars a year by the late 1920s<ref name=indectrade>[http://www.indec.mecon.gov.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/19/anuario_com_ext_06.pdf INDEC]</ref> with virtually no foreign investment and comparatively little domestic credit.<ref name="autogenerated5" />


As a result of the diversification in markets and products, Argentina managed to escape the trap of a single-staple economy and sustained its economic growth over six decades.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=22}} The combined effect of declining prices of textiles and rising prices of livestock products produced dramatic improvements in the [[terms of trade]], which rose 377% between 1810 and 1825 in local prices.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}} Several governors waged campaigns against the natives to increase the available lands, from [[Juan Manuel de Rosas]] to [[Julio Argentino Roca]].
The most important aspect of foreign investment was its share in Argentina's capital stock relative to the size of domestic contributions. The boom in foreign capital during the 1880s was able to cover, by some estimates, a [[current account deficit]] of 30 percent of GDP. It is important to note, though, that while foreign investment arrived in large amounts, its percentage of total investment and hence its influence on economic development was so great because domestic investment and savings were so small.


Most poor gauchos joined forces with the most powerful caudillos in the vicinity. As the [[Federalist Party (Argentina)|Federalist Party]], they opposed the policies implemented by Buenos Aires, and waged the [[Argentine Civil Wars]].{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=241}}
====Appraisal and the twilight of export-led growth====
[[File:Market Place - Emeric Essex Vidal - Picturesque illustrations of Buenos Ayres and Monte Video (1820).jpg|thumb|Buenos Aires marketplace, 1810s]]
[[Image:Callealem.jpg|thumb|240px|Scene in downtown Buenos Aires, [[Circa|c.]]1920.]]
[[File:Pellegrini Buenos Aires Matadero.jpg|thumb|Impression of a Buenos Aires slaughterhouse by [[Charles Pellegrini]], 1829.]]
[[Image:Retiro BsAs 120.jpg|thumb|210px|left|Retiro railway station, [[Circa|c.]]1920, a landmark from the era of British investment in Argentina.]]


===1810–1829===
The relatively sudden modernization in the Argentine economy before 1914 was achieved through investment from and exports to [[Europe]]. Dependent upon beef jerky and hides until the advent of refrigerated shipping in 1876,<ref name="scarecrow"/> exports diversified into chilled beef and mutton, to cereals and eventually to some processed goods like flour, lard, canned luncheon meat and linseed oil (a common solvent at the time). These were sent off to Europe, where rising living standards created a booming market for imported foodstuffs and other raw materials. In return, [[United Kingdom|Great Britain]], [[France]] and [[Germany]] invested in the development of Argentina, particularly in sectors that were oriented toward exports (such as Argentina's [[Rail transport in Argentina|railways]], still the most extensive in [[Latin America]]).
After Argentina became [[Argentine War of Independence|independent]] in 1810, an era in which commerce was controlled by a small group of [[peninsulares|peninsular]] merchants came to an end.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}} The [[Primera Junta]], the first government established after the 1810 [[May Revolution]], undertook a [[Protectionism|protectionist]] policy until their fall from government.


The [[First Triumvirate (Argentina)|First Triumvirate]] (1811–1812), influenced by [[Bernardino Rivadavia]] and Manuel García, instead promoted unrestricted trade with Britain.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=143}} The [[Second Triumvirate (Argentina)|Second Triumvirate]] (1812–1814) and [[José Gervasio Artigas]] (who controlled the [[Liga Federal]] during the 1815–1820 period) sought to restore the initial protectionist policy, but the [[Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata|Supreme Director]] restored free trade once more.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=176–181}} Thus, the economy of the [[Rio de la Plata Basin|Río de la Plata]] became one of the most open economies in the world.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=20}}
While many Argentines saw the foreign exchange their booming export sector brought in as central to the development of a national market, export volumes themselves did not outstrip the economy as a whole. Exports averaged 15-20% of GDP during the era between 1870 and 1913 (far less a proportion than, say, [[Cuba]]).<ref>[http://www.chrisblattman.org/BHW2004-NBERw10600.pdf Blattman]</ref> Growing domestic activity accounted for most of the era's economic growth itself, though the country's financial stability still remained deeply dependent on foreign investment and international economic sentiment.


Between 1812 and 1816 divisions developed between a [[Political unitarism|Unitarist]] faction centred on Buenos Aires and a Federalist faction in the provinces, which eventually led to a series of civil wars that ended with the conquest of Buenos Aires by Federalist [[caudillo]]s at the [[Battle of Cepeda (1820)|Battle of Cepeda]] in 1820.{{sfn|Rock|1987|p=80}}
Foreign investment and the commodity market can be extremely volatile. Because Argentina's economy relied so heavily on foreign credit and a demand for its agricultural products, it was particularly susceptible to these periods of volatility, which brought about severe repercussions for the country's economic growth. Foreign investment for Argentina, then, was a double-edged sword. While it contributed to the long period of growth between the late 1800s and early 1900s, foreign investment dried up during [[World War I]]. Because national markets had not yet matured, the domestic economy was unprepared to make up for losses incurred by the international market shock and the economy, which had grown by an average of about 6% until 1913, shrank by 10% in 1914 and remained in low gear during the war.<ref name=SALA>''The Statistical Abstract of Latin America.'' University of California, Los Angeles.</ref>


Each province had its own money, and the same money had a different value from one province and another, and even among cities in the same province.<ref>{{cite web|last1=della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |title=The Argentine Currency Board and the Search for Macroeconomic Stability, 1880–1935 |url=http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8835.pdf |publisher=University of Chicago Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116100913/http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8835.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-16 |page=37 |year=2001 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
===The industrial era===
[[Image:Frigorífico Gualeguaychú foto vieja.jpg|thumb|260px|The [[Gualeguaychú]] meatpacking plant c. 1940. Cooperatively owned, the plant was emblematic of the food processing boom in the 1920s and '30s.]]
The period between 1914 and 1945 challenged the Argentine economy, as it did most of the world's. Foreign investment disappeared during World War I to finance the European war effort, and failed to return after the peace. The Argentine economy retained close links to British trade and investment; but after 1918, a stronger commercial relationship emerged with the United States and [[Wall Street]], which now dominated the international economic stage. The now indispensable urban working and middle classes had recently secured [[Sáenz Peña Law|universal male suffrage]] and, in 1916, elected the country's first [[populism|populist]] leadership. The new administration of longtime activist [[Hipolito Yrigoyen]] extended subsidized loans to Argentina's then-sizable [[peasant]] class and translated recently-found [[petroleum|oil]] deposits into the country's first significant experiment with [[Government-owned corporation|public enterprise]], the 1922 creation of the state oil concern [[YPF]]. Though it did not become a monopoly in the way [[Mexico]]'s [[PEMEX]] did, YPF yielded about 15,000 barrels daily by 1930 (a fourth of Argentina's oil needs)<ref>''Revista de Economia Argentina, number 20''. Buenos Aires, 1938.</ref> and its success (albeit modest) made it a target of [[Standard Oil]].<ref name=Wirth>Wirth, John. ''The Oil Business in Latin America''. Beard Books, 2001</ref>


The government of [[Martín Rodríguez (politician)|Martín Rodríguez]] (1820–1824) and his minister [[Bernardino Rivadavia]], then [[Juan Gregorio de las Heras|Las Heras]] and finally Rivadavia himself as the first [[president of Argentina]] from 1826 to 1827, developed an economic plan deemed as "''The happy experience''". This plan increased the British influence in the national politics. It was based on five main pillars: complete free trade and no [[Protectionism#Protectionist policies|protectionist policies]] against British imports, finance with a central bank managed by British investors, absolute control of the [[port of Buenos Aires]] as the sole source of income from national [[customs]], British exploitation of the national natural resources, and a [[Political unitarism|Unitarist]] national organization centred in Buenos Aires.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=224}} After Rivadavia resigned in 1827, ending the "happy experience", the federalist [[Manuel Dorrego]] assumed power as governor of Buenos Aires, but was soon executed by the unitarist [[Juan Lavalle]] during a military coup.
Economic growth returned to about 6% annually during the 1920s and by 1929, for instance, there were over 400,000 motor vehicles in the country (more than any other in Latin America).<ref>[http://www.cocheargentino.com.ar/varios/cronologia.htm Cocheargentino.com.ar]</ref> The [[Wall Street Crash of 1929|1929 stock market collapse]], however, marked the end of Argentine hopes for a return to the export-led growth model. Suffering the brunt of public discontent (including at least one asassination attempt), the aging Yrigoyen was deposed in a quiet [[1930]] [[coup d'etat]] that placed him under house arrest and his point man at YPF, [[Enrique Mosconi]], into exile. Per capita sdjksewvsdpbhivpbhiadfbjadfbjkbadbjndbjnjndbnaergnbjnadfdbadfbjnbngegeccvnGDP, meanwhile, plummeted almost as quickly as it did in the [[United States]]: in 1932 it reached its lowest level since 1902.<ref name=SALA/>


The exports of gold, allowed by the free trade policies, soon depleted the national reserves.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grinfeld |first=I. |date=1910 |title=Monetary Experiences of the Argentine Republic |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2141010 |journal=Political Science Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=103–122 |doi=10.2307/2141010 |jstor=2141010 |issn=0032-3195}}</ref> This posed a great problem, as gold was the [[medium of exchange]] of the local economy. Rivadavia sought to fix it by establishing the "Discount Bank", a [[central bank]] for printing [[fiat money]]. Like a number of other central banks worldwide, this bank was not owned by the state, but by private investors, British in this case.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=223}}
====Import substitution industrialization====
[[Image:Fábrica Militar de Aviones de Córdoba - 1940-1950.jpg|thumb|240px|left|Fighter plane production line in [[Cordoba, Argentina|Cordoba]] c. 1950. On line since 1927, an early milestone in the development of Argentina's heavy industry.]]
Even before [[World War II]], a new model of economic growth began to emerge. The Economic Census of 1935 counted over 600,000 workers in manufacturing (mostly in firms with fewer than five employees)<ref>''Economic and Industrial Census, 1935''.</ref> and, benefitting from innovative self-financing and government loans alike, these industries employed 1.5 million by 1947<ref>[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/demographic/products/dyb/dybsets/1956%20DYB.pdf UN]</ref>. [[Import substitution industrialization]], or ISI, was adopted into Argentina's economic policy and where the government had adopted a more ''[[laissez-faire]]'' approach with export-led growth, ISI meant direct government intervention. Though it had been larded with [[Standard Oil]] and [[Royal Dutch Shell]] lobbyists since after the 1930 coup,<ref name=Wirth/> the Argentine government took a quick turn and by 1932, for example, it began levying gasoline taxes to fund its new highway bureau and began Argentina's first large-scale [[hydroelectric]] projects.<ref>[http://www.historiadelpais.com.ar/argentina_noticias.php Historia del pais]</ref> The 1933 [[Roca-Runciman Treaty|Roca-Runciman Agreement]] further regulated monetary and trade policy by tying both more closely to British markets.<ref name=scarecrow/>


[[File:1848-1856 Miembros de la sociedad El camoati (1ra bolsa de comercio).jpg|thumb|left|Members of the "Sociedad El Camoatí" (1848–1856), the first stock exchange in Buenos Aires]]
The Argentine economy was able to return a modest level of growth. Having recovered its lost ground by the late 1930s partly through import substitution, the economy continued to grow modestly during World War II (in sharp contrast to what had happened in the previous World War). Indeed, the reduced availability of imports and the war's beneficial effects on both the quantity and price of Argentine exports combined to create a US$ 1.7 billion cumulative surplus during those years.<ref name=GEO75>''National Geographic Magazine''. March, 1975.</ref>
The report of the American [[John Murray Forbes (diplomat)|John Murray Forbes]] to [[John Quincy Adams]], sixth President of the United States, in 1824 mentioned that Britain had a huge influence in the economic power of the country.
[[Image:Evita y Perón 05.jpg|thumb|260px|Juan and Evita Perón greet their public, 1950.]]
What followed was one of the most contentious periods in modern Argentine history and the source of many of the [[Politics of Argentina|political divisions]] that continue to exist in Argentina. Even before he took office in 1946, President [[Juan Perón]] took dramatic steps that he felt would result in a more economically independent Argentina, better insulated from events such as World War II; Perón believed there would be a third.<ref>''National Geographic Magazine''. December, 1994.</ref> In his first two years in office alone, he nationalized the Central Bank, paid off its billion-dollar debt to the [[Bank of England]], [[Railway Nationalisation in Argentina|nationalized]] the railways (mostly owned by British and French companies), [[ship transport|merchant marine]], universities, public utilities, public transport (then, mostly tramways)<ref name="Crawley"/> and, probably most significantly, created a single purchaser for the nation's mostly export-oriented grains and oilseeds: the [[IAPI]].<ref name="scarecrow"/>


He mentioned that the government in Buenos Aires was so eager to be on good terms with Britain and gain recognition of the [[Argentine Declaration of Independence|declaration of independence]] that most official institutions (as the Bank) were under British control, and that Britain had similar control over the Argentine economy to that [[metropole]] of a [[colony]], without the financial, civil or military costs.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=223}} Even the lack of an Argentine [[merchant fleet]] allowed Britain to manage the maritime trade.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=225}} Forbes's testimony should be appraised in perspective of the contemporary Anglo-American commercial rivalry, In light of the partial nature of the account and of his "jealousy, even antipathy" towards the English in Rio de la Plata.<ref>{{cite book|last=Peterson|first=Harold F.|title=Argentina and the United States, 1810–1960|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eG0h5r3BFkwC&pg=PA80|publisher=SUNY Press|page=80|year=1964|isbn=978-0873950107}}</ref>
Soon the central government's chief source of non-tax revenue, the IAPI benefited from the jump in international grain demand and high prices during 1946-47. It helped finance generous social reforms and record public works investments (in particular, the construction of over 4000 hospitals and clinics and of over 8000 schools)<ref name="Crawley"/>. Dormant mortgage and development loan programs were revitalized and the economy grew by over a fourth in 1946-48. These programs, among other things, eradicated tropical diseases in the underdeveloped [[Gran Chaco|north]] and the country's recurrent problem with [[locust]]s; but the IAPI soon began shortchanging growers and, when world grain prices dropped in the late 1940s, it stifled agricultural production, exports and business sentiment, in general.<ref>[http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/subnotas/103697-32644-2008-05-07.html Página12]</ref> Argentine exports were, moreover, largely shut out of booming European markets by political pressure from the administration of U.S. President [[Harry S. Truman]] (which regarded Perón as an unapologetic [[fascist]])<ref name=Crawley/> and the resulting trade deficits of 1949-52 brought Argentina its first serious bout of [[stagflation]] since World War I.


In the mid-1820s, when [[Manuel José García]] was Minister of Finance, the government borrowed heavily to finance new projects and to pay off war debts.<ref name=ioarg>{{cite book|last=Shumway|first=Nicolas|title=The Invention of Argentina|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SUncGVjtVGoC&pg=PA97|publisher=University of California Press|page=97|year=1993|isbn=978-0520913851}}</ref> These loans were tendered at usurious rates: in one notorious loan, the government received credit for £570,000 from the [[Baring Brothers]] in exchange for a debt of £1,000,000.<ref name=ioarg/> In the 1820s, the [[Argentine peso moneda corriente|peso papel]] began to lose value rapidly with respect to the [[Argentine peso#Peso fuerte, 1826–1881|peso fuerte]], which was linked to the price of gold.<ref name=ladlhv/> In 1827 the peso papel was devalued by 33%, and was devalued again by 68% in 1829.<ref name=ladlhv>{{cite web|last=Edwards |first=Sebastian |title=Latin America's Decline: A Long Historical View |url=http://gesd.free.fr/nb15171.pdf |publisher=National Bureau Of Economic Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426081454/http://gesd.free.fr/nb15171.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 |page=17 |date=July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
This crisis as well as the passing of the most influential and populist adviser in Perón's inner circle (his wife, [[Eva Perón]]) led the President to adopt more business-friendly policies after 1952.<ref name="scarecrow"/> His new policies reinvigorated exports and stimulated badly needed foreign investments in [[petroleum]] and the auto industry, while keeping wages high, labor rights strong and investment in public works in high gear;<ref name="Crawley"/> even after a conflict with the [[Roman Catholic]] church resulted in his overthrow (1955), this combination of policies remained (more or less) the general blueprint for economic policy for the next twenty years.
====Developmentalism====
[[Image:Rogelio Frigerio - Gente 734 AG 1979.jpg|thumb|132px|left|Economist [[Rogelio Frigerio]] encouraged local and foreign investment in energy and industry, making Argentina nearly self-sufficient in both by the 1960s.]]


===1829–1870===
Though Argentine conservatives saw Perón's fall as an opportunity to return to the [[Mercantilism|mercantile]] model, the new regime's Civilian Advisory Board advised against drastic policy changes. This still left the question of the country's chronic trade deficits, which, though a modest US$200 million a year (2% of GDP), proved difficult to finance and was, thus, leading to periodic bouts of inflation.<ref name=indectrade/> Elections in 1958 brought the moderate [[Arturo Frondizi]] to office and with him, two approaches to the problem. The first was a policy shared by Pres. Frondizi and his personal friend, businessman [[Rogelio Frigerio]]: [[developmentalism]]. Encouraging investment in energy, industry and public works, as well a subsidies for domestic mortgage and business lending, it drew from previous efforts (such as Perón's post-1952 approach), though it was more ambitious in its bid for foreign investment and rather resembled Pres. [[Juscelino Kubitschek]]'s policies in Brazil. The second entailed an austerity package of wage freezes, curbs on subsidies, [[credit control]]s and a sharp devaluation of the [[Peso moneda nacional|peso]] and was not supported by the president or Frigerio; but was imposed on Frondizi by the military through economist [[Alvaro Alsogaray]], a former defense contractor close to the landowing elite.<ref name=Lewis/>
[[Image:La Porteña.jpg|thumb|left|In 1857, La Porteña became the first locomotive to operate in Argentina.]]
[[Image:Marta Minujin - 1965.jpg|thumb|The [[Obelisk of Buenos Aires|Buenos Aires Obelisk]] sets the stage for a 1965 ad. The Argentine working class enjoyed rising living standards and the middle class had grown to over 40% of the population.]]
[[Juan Manuel de Rosas]] forced Lavalle to leave the province, and the federals ruled Buenos Aires until 1852.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=255–273}} Rosas modified a number of policies of the Rivadavian period but maintained others: he set a customs law with protectionist policies, but kept the port under the exclusive control of Buenos Aires and refused to call a constituent assembly.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=280–283}}
Bereft of a choice, Frondizi enacted these policies simultaneously and the results largely reflected it: Alsogaray's austerity led to a sudden doubling of prices (a record at the time) and a consequent recession in 1959, the sharpest since 1930; but a wave of domestic and foreign investment from 1958 to 1962 resulted in three times more oil, steel and cement production, twice as much oil refining capacity and electric output and a several-fold increase in the production of [[consumer durable]]s (in particular, auto production, which rose four-fold to 136,000 units, covering the domestic market).<ref name=Lewis>Lewis, Paul. ''The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism''. University of North Carolina Press, 1990.</ref><ref name=ADEFA>[http://adefa.com.ar ADEFA]</ref> The combined slowing of domestic demand and sudden industrialization was consistent in one regard: the era of chronic trade deficits, for the time, ended in 1963.<ref name=indectrade/> Their overcoming this obstacle allowed the new Administration of Dr. [[Arturo Illia]] to pursue vigorously pro-growth policies that included record public mortgage and business lending and generous wage guidelines, while balancing the national budget. The working and middle-classes benefited equally: poverty and unemployment fell sharply, while appliance, auto and home sales leapt to record levels. Pres. Illia, however, canceled important oil exploration contracts with foreign oil giants and, as Frondizi had done, allowed Peronist candidates for local and governors' posts to take office {{mdash}} concessions the military had forbidden. Prosperity notwithstanding, these moves threw conservatives and most of the media against Illia, who was deposed in a quiet 1966 coup.


The customs law set trade barriers to products produced in the country, and imposed high import tariffs on luxury goods, together with export quotas and tariffs on gold and silver. However, the law was not completely effective because of the control of the port, which did not allow the provinces a steady financial income.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=302–304}} The exclusive control of the port was long resisted by federals from other provinces and led to the conflict of Rosas and [[Justo José de Urquiza]] at the [[battle of Caseros]].{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=304–306}} Despite the financial obstacles, the economy of Entre Ríos grew to a size near that of Buenos Aires, with the decline of [[saladero]]s and the growth of wool production.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|pp=322–325}}
The new regime tried austerity initially; but strenuous opposition from the newly powerful manufacturers' lobby, the [[w:es:Unión Industrial Argentina|Argentine Industrial Union]] (UIA), resulted in a general return to [[developmentalism]] around 1968. Record public works and business investment reignited economic growth and by 1970, for instance, GDP had grown by 50% from 1963 levels, industrial production by 60%<ref name=mecon/> and auto sales had doubled.<ref name=ADEFA/> The boom's resulting rise in imports renewed calls for austerity among [[FOMC#Stance on inflation|inflation hawk]]s which, in 1970, placed the new ''de facto'' President, Gen. [[Roberto M. Levingston]], in a position similar to Frondizi's a decade earlier. Like Frondizi, he appointed a conservative Economy Minister; but relied on a pro-industry policy maker, Production Minister [[Aldo Ferrer]]. The pragmatic Pres. Levingston, in September 1970, had Ferrer, Frondizi and other other moderates draft a "five-year plan" creating a national small-business lender and other new incentives for local investment in energy and industry, as well as regulations on foreign investment designed to encourage reliance on Argentine products and skill.<ref name="scarecrow"/> The plan, however, also catered to Levingston's personal political ambitions and resulted in his being deposed the next March. Ferrer's proposals, even so, were left largely intact and were complemented by Interior Minister [[Arturo Mor Roig]]'s public housing and public health programs {{mdash}} the most comprehensive Argentina had ever seen.<ref name=Rock/>
[[Image:EdificioELMA.JPG|thumb|246px|Headquarters of the National Merchant Marine, 1972. The public sector figured prominently in Argentina's development after 1945.]]


[[File:Saladero 11 de Setiembre - Barrio Refinería, Rosario.jpg|thumb|A [[saladero]] in [[Rosario]], 1860s]]
These accomplishments, however, suffered from a background of [[La Noche de los Bastones Largos|repression]] that had resulted in increasing labor and student unrest, particularly since 1969. Skillfully co-opting these movements from exile, Juan Perón pressured the military regime into calling free elections on 11 March 1973, which, won by his [[Justicialist Party]] in a landslide, resulted in the aging leader's return from exile that June.<ref name=Rock/>
In 1838 there was a new currency crisis, and the peso papel was devalued by 34%, and in 1839 when the peso papel lost 66% of its value.<ref name=ladlhv/> It was again devalued by 95% in 1845, and by 40% in 1851.<ref name=ladlhv/> The [[Valentín Alsina|Alsina]] years, which coincided with the [[secession of Buenos Aires]], saw an extremely poor economic performance.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=67}} Efforts to fund extraordinary expenditure on the conflict between Buenos Aires and the other provinces of the [[Argentine Confederation|Confederation]] caused the fiscal deficit to skyrocket.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=67}} Similarly, the Confederation faced harsh economic conditions. Urquiza, president of the Confederation, issued the 'law of differential rights', benefiting the ships trading with the ports of the Confederation and but not with Buenos Aires.{{sfn|Galasso|2011|p=352}}


The end of the [[Argentine civil wars|civil wars]] provided the political and legal stability necessary to assert property rights and cut transaction costs, contributing to the huge inflows of capital and labor resources that built modern Argentina.<ref name="macrunc">{{cite web|last=Avila |first=Jorge C. |title=Fiscal Deficit, Macro-Uncertainty, And Growth In Argentina |publisher=Universidad Del Cema |date=July 2011 |url=http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/documentos/456.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419203313/http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/documentos/456.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1866 an attempt was made to stabilize the currency, by introducing a system of [[convertibility]],<ref name="aituipm29">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=John Henry|title=Argentine international trade under inconvertible paper money, 1880–1900|url=https://archive.org/stream/argentineinterna00willuoft#page/38/mode/1up|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=29|year=1920}}</ref> which restricted the monetary authorities to issue paper currency only if it was fully backed by gold or convertible foreign currency.<ref name=ladlhv/> The decades of the 1860s and 1880s experienced the most favorable performance of the economy overall, setting the stage for the so-called Golden Age of Argentine history.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} Nevertheless, the first years of independence included a difficult economic development. In spite of the new freedom caused by the inauguration of the republic, the country was not economically united: expansion in some parts and decline in other parts. Indeed, people experienced different levels of income and welfare. Therefore, it is unclear whether this period of time (1820–1870) brought an income or welfare improvement.<ref>{{cite book|author=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present|date=2016|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=136|isbn=978-1107507180}}</ref>
====Appraisal====


In the 60 years after the founding of the [[Agricultural colonies in Argentina|farming colony]] at [[Esperanza, Santa Fe|Esperanza]] in 1856, the base of Argentine agriculture gradually shifted from livestock to crops.<ref name="britarg">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Argentina |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33657/Argentina/33120?view=section |archive-url=https://archive.today/20111214235850/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33657/Argentina/33120?view=section |archive-date=2011-12-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[Inflation]] first became a chronic problem during this period (it averaged 26% annually from 1944 to 1974) and Argentina did not become "industrialized" or fully "developed"; but, from 1932 to 1974, Argentina's economy grew almost five-fold<ref name=SALA/> (or 3.8% in annual terms) while its population only doubled. Though unremarkable, this expansion was well-distributed and so resulted in very positive changes in [[Culture of Argentina|Argentine society]], most notably the development of the largest proportional middle class (40% of the population by the 1960s) in [[Latin America]]<ref name=SALA/> as well as the region's best-paid, most unionized working class.<ref>''St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide''.</ref>


==Export-led boom==
===The modern era===
{{see also|Patagonian sheep farming boom}}
====Crisis and coup====
{{Quote box
Perón's Economy Minister, [[José Ber Gelbard]], attempted to preserve a balance between management and labor needs with a "social pact" entitling labor to generous, though measured, wage hikes, as well as price controls on consumer goods. This resulted in record real median wages about 50% higher than those in 1963 (or in 2008)<ref name=indec/> and a re-acceleration in growth (6% yearly in 1973-74 and 80% above 1963 levels).<ref name=SALA/>
|quote = "In spite of its enormous advance which the Republic has made within the last ten years, the most cautious critic would not hesitate to aver that Argentina has but just entered upon the threshold of her greatness."
[[Image:Villa adelina ORBIS.jpg|thumb|left|240px|Facility making ORBIS water heaters. Having doubled from 1963 to 1974, industrial production stalled for the next thirty years.]]
|width = 25%
Partly owing to the [[1973 oil crisis]], however, the pact began to unravel (particularly following Perón's July 1974 death). Although Argentina was nearly self-sufficient in petroleum, the oil price shock adversely impacted the nation's delicate financial balance; it, in part, caused the nation's foreign oil bill to jump from US$50 million to US$500 million in 1974 and indirectly helped erase the rest of the nation's record billion-dollar 1973 trade surplus.<ref name=Lewis/> This adverse turn might have been better managed had it not been that the [[Peronists]] were under enormous pressure from their political base (the unions, in particular) to avoid a recession at almost any cost (a consideration painfully denied them by Economy Minister [[Alvaro Alsogaray]] in 1959 and in 1962).<ref name="Crawley"/> Refusing to resort to borrowing and unable, by 1975, to control soaring budget and trade deficits, as well as a wave of violence between [[Trotsky]]ite and [[fascist]] extremists, the Peronist government resorted to a chaos of sharp currency devaluations and erratically timed wage hikes and freezes.<ref name=Lewis/> In a seemingly never-ending tide of near-hyperinflation, stikes, business [[Lockout (industry)|lockout]]s and violence, the [[Argentine military|military]] took power in a bloody [[March 1976 coup]].
|source = Percy F. Martin, Through Five Republics of South America, 1905.<ref>{{cite book|last=Falcke Martin|first=Percy|title=Through Five Republics (of South America): A Critical Description of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay and Venezuela in 1905|url=https://archive.org/stream/throughfiverepu01martgoog#page/n24/mode/1up|publisher=William Heinemann|page=2|year=1905}}</ref>
[[Image:FUA manifestación 70s - MNR.jpg|thumb|200px|Students demonstrate in 1974. Repression, revenge and economic malaise later came hand in hand.]]
}}
[[Image:Martinez de Hoz y Videla - Telam.jpg|thumb|221px|Ultraconservative economist Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz (left) and his boss, President Jorge Videla, at a 1980 trade luncheon.]]
Argentina, which had been insignificant during the first half of the 19th century, showed growth from the 1860s up until 1930 that was so impressive that it was expected to eventually become the United States of South America.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=4}} This impressive and sustained economic performance was driven by the export of agricultural goods.<ref name="pea"/> A 2018 study describes Argentina as a "super-exporter" during the period 1880–1929 and credits the boom to low trade costs and trade liberalization on one hand and on the other hand to the fact that Argentina "offered a diverse basket of products to the different European and American countries that consumed them".<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last1=Pinilla|first1=Vicente|last2=Rayes|first2=Agustina|date=2018-09-27|title=How Argentina became a super-exporter of agricultural and food products during the First Globalisation (1880–1929)|journal=Cliometrica|volume=13|issue=3|pages=443–469|language=en|doi=10.1007/s11698-018-0178-0|s2cid=158598822|issn=1863-2505|url=http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/84206}}</ref> The study concludes "that Argentina took advantage of a multilateral and open economic system."<ref name=":0" />


During the second half of the 19th century, there was an intense process of colonization of the territory in the form of [[latifundia]].{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=4}} Until 1875 wheat was imported as it was not grown in sufficient quantities to supply local demand;<ref>{{cite book|last=Williams|first=John Henry|title=Argentine international trade under inconvertible paper money, 1880–1900|url=https://archive.org/stream/argentineinterna00willuoft#page/27/mode/1up|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=27|year=1920}}</ref> by 1903 the country supplied all its own needs and exported {{convert|75270503|impbsh|lk=in|m3}} of wheat, enough to sustain 16,000,000 people.<ref>{{cite book|last=Bicknell|first=Frank W.|title=Wheat Production and Farm Life in Argentina|url=https://archive.org/stream/wheatproduction01bickgoog#page/n17/mode/1up|publisher=Govt. Print. Off.|page=11|year=1904}}</ref>
Greeted initially with euphoria in the business community, the [[coup d'etat]] filled policy-making positions generally{{ndash}} and the critical [[Minister of Economy of Argentina|Economics Ministry]] in particular{{ndash}} with ultra-[[conservatism|conservative]] ideologues, many of them scions of [[Argentina]]'s old agricultural elites.<ref name="Crawley"/> In touch with the investors' and exporters' legitimate need for stability but quick to order wage freezes that often lasted months, these [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]] and [[University of Chicago|Chicago]]-trained economists proved unable to curb the [[National Reorganization Process|junta]]'s appetite for defense spending and unwilling to discourage speculators from taking advantage of Argentina's financial instability, often themselves profiting through the use of their advantage as [[Insider trading|insiders]].<ref>[http://www.argentina-rree.com/documentos/festival/Cap%201-%20Nacimiento%20patria%20financiera%20y%20contratista.pdf Arg rree.com]</ref>


In the 1870s real wages in Argentina were around 76% relative to Britain, rising to 96% in the first decade of the 20th century.{{sfn|Sánchez-Alonso|2010|p=9}} [[GDP per capita]] rose from 35% of the United States average in 1880 to about 80% in 1905,<ref>{{cite web|author=Jorge Avila |title=Ingreso per cápita relativo 1875–2006 |publisher=Jorge Avila Opina |date=2006-05-25 |url=http://www.jorgeavilaopina.com/?p=61 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175246/http://www.jorgeavilaopina.com/?p=61 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=dead }}</ref> similar to that of France, Germany and Canada.<ref name=blattman>{{cite web |author1=Christopher Blattman |author2=Jason Hwang |author3=Jeffrey G. Williamson |title=The impact of the terms of trade on economic development in the periphery, 1870–1939: Volatility and secular change |publisher=National Bureau Of Economic Research |date=June 2004 |url=http://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2004.Winners&Losers.NBERw10600.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015134547/http://chrisblattman.com/documents/research/2004.Winners%26Losers.NBERw10600.pdf |archive-date=October 15, 2011 |url-status=dead |page=39 |access-date=February 1, 2017 }}</ref>
Buffeted by wage freezes difficult to oppose against the backdrop of massive [[Dirty War|human rights abuses]], real incomes fell by over a third that first year alone and have yet to fully recover.<ref>[http://www.scielo.br/img/revistas/rec/v11n1/a01fig02.gif Scielo.br]</ref> Unusually corrupt among the country's litany of often opprobious past Economy Ministers,<ref>[http://www.rionegro.com.ar/diario/tools/imprimir.php?id=9132 Rionegro.com]</ref> [[Jose Alfredo Martinez de Hoz|José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz]] also pursued "[[free trade]]" and a strong peso policy even as [[inflation]] ran at over 100% a year, encouraging a wave of imports that helped result in a 20% fall in industrial output<ref>''UN Statistical Yearbook. 1982''.</ref> Credit markets in New York and Paris meanwhile opened up to Argentina's profligate government and corrupt financiers alike and by 1981 over US$30 billion in bad debts had piled up, destroying business confidence and forcing a ruinous run on banks and the [[Argentine peso ley|peso]].<ref name="autogenerated2">''National Geographic Magazine''. August, 1986.</ref>


===1870–1890===
====Debt and depression====
[[File:Buenos Aires 1915.jpg|thumb|left|Buenos Aires Docks, 1915. The British-financed docks and railway system created a dynamic agro-export sector that remains as an economic pillar.]]
The combination of depressed real wages and financial chaos amounted to a "perfect storm" to the Argentine economy, made all the more difficult to bear by the dictatorship's tragic 1982 invasion of the [[Falkland Islands]].<ref name="Crawley"/> GDP shrank by 12% in 1981-82, the sharpest decline since 1930.<ref name=SALA/> One of the worst contributors to this crisis was probably the [[Central Bank of Argentina|Central Bank]] "Circular 1050". The policy tied [[Negative amortization|adjustable loan]] rates to the value of the [[United States dollar]] and consequently caused monthly interest payments to rise over ten-fold between early 1981 and mid-1982; by the end of this period, banks were writing off about 5% of their loan portfolios monthly.<ref name=WB>''Argentina: From Insolvency to Growth''. World Bank, 1993.</ref> Fixed investment, which had weathered instability in the 1970s well, collapsed by almost 40% and stayed in low gear during the rest of the 1980s.<ref name=SALA/>
In 1870, during [[Domingo Faustino Sarmiento]]'s presidency, total debt amounted to 48 million gold pesos. A year later, it had almost doubled.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} [[Nicolás Avellaneda|Avellaneda]] became president after winning the [[Argentine presidential election, 1874|1874 presidential election]].<ref name="aamh"/> The coalition that supported his candidature became the [[Partido Autonomista Nacional]], Argentina's first national party;<ref name="aamh">{{cite book|last=Hedges|first=Jill|title=Argentina: A Modern History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygpDuv1r_UkC&pg=PA21|publisher=I.B. Tauris|page=21|year=2011|isbn=978-1848856547}}</ref> all the presidents until 1916 would come from this party.<ref>{{cite web|last1=della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |title=The Argentine Currency Board and the Search for Macroeconomic Stability, 1880–1935 |url=http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8853.pdf |publisher=University of Chicago Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904073548/http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8853.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-04 |page=256 |year=2001 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Avellaneda undertook the tough actions needed to get the debt under control.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} In 1876 convertibility was suspended.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} The inflation rate rose to almost 20% in the following year, but the ratio of debt to GDP plummeted.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} Avellaneda's administration was the first to deliver a balance in the fiscal accounts since the mid-1850s.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} Avellaneda passed on to his successor, [[Julio Argentino Roca]], a much more manageable economic environment.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=67}}


[[File:Cerveceria Quilmes en 1910 - 12.jpg|thumb|[[Cerveza Quilmes|Quilmes]] brewery in 1910]]
When the [[Falklands War]] disaster brought new, more moderate leadership to the junta in July 1982, the new President of the [[Central Bank of Argentina|Central Bank]] [[Domingo Cavallo]] quickly discarded the hated Circular 1050. Indeed, history might have kinder to him had he left his reforms at that; but, to aid manufacturers in debt (facing unaffordable US dollar payments), he extended them a little-known loan guarantee designed to buffer their US Dollar-denominated debts from sharp falls in the Peso. Insiders, including Martinez de Hoz, had been enjoying this exchange rate guarantee since the Peso crisis began<ref>[http://www.weblogs.clarin.com/secretos/archives/2007/07/acindar-inversiones-millonarias-en-medio-de-los-cortes-de-energia.html Clarín.com]</ref> and so, it was nothing new. [[Domingo Cavallo|Cavallo]] was sacked the next month and though it's often overlooked in debate, his successors over the next five years unethically extended the costly facility to all manner of debtors, adding up to US$15 billion to the national debt.<ref>[http://www.argenpress.info/notaold.asp?num=008347 ArgenPress]</ref>
In 1881, a currency reform introduced a [[Bimetallism|bimetallic]] standard, which went into effect in July 1883.<ref name="acbsms46">{{cite web|last1=della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |title=The Argentine Currency Board and the Search for Macroeconomic Stability, 1880–1935 |url=http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8835.pdf |publisher=University of Chicago Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116100913/http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8835.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-16 |pages=46–48 |year=2001 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unlike many precious metal standards the system was very decentralized: no national monetary authority existed and all control over convertibility rested with the five banks of issue.<ref name="acbsms46"/> The period of convertibility lasted only 17 months: from December 1884 the banks of issue refused to exchange gold at par for notes.<ref name="acbsms46"/> The suspension of convertibility was soon accommodated by the government, since, having no institutional power over the monetary system, there was little they could do to prevent it.<ref name="acbsms46"/>
[[Image:Stamped Austral 10 A.jpg|thumb|left|300px|10 ''australes'' hastily stamped on a 10,000 peso bill, 1985. Inflation forced four currency changes between 1970 and 1991; ten ''trillion'' 1940-era pesos would equal one of today's.]]
Facing a public howling for their heads, the [[National Reorganization Process|junta]] quietly transferred power to a democratically elected administration in late 1983<ref name="autogenerated2"/> and though his fellow citizens had great hope in him initially, President [[Raúl Alfonsín]] proved unable to translate his considerable political skill and high-minded intentions into economic stability or even fruitful negotiations with Argentina's impatient creditors. Appointing increasingly [[Jose Luis Machinea|conservative policy makers]] who quickly bailed out speculators in debt even as they ordered more wage freezes<ref>[http://www.argenpress.info/notaold.asp?num=008347 Argenpress]</ref>, he increasingly alienated labor and the working poor (all of whom had fresh, painful memories of the dictatorship's incomes policies). The reinvigorated unions, led by the [[General Confederation of Labour|General Confederation of Labour (CGT)]], responded to Alfonsín's wage freezes with thirteen [[general strikes]] and over 2000 minor ones.


The profitability of the agricultural sector attracted foreign capital for railways and industries.<ref name="pea"/> British capital investments went from just over £20 million in 1880 to £157 million in 1890.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> During the 1880s, investment began to show some diversification as capital began to flow from other countries such as France, Germany and Belgium, though British investment still accounted for two thirds of total foreign capital.<ref name="autogenerated5">{{cite web|title=Hacia la crisis (1880–1890) |work=Historia de las Relaciones Exteriores Argentinas |publisher=Universidad del CEMA |url=http://www.ucema.edu.ar/ceieg/arg-rree/10/10-002a.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110810174506/http://www.ucema.edu.ar/ceieg/arg-rree/10/10-002a.htm |archive-date=2011-08-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1890 Argentina was the destination of choice for British investment in Latin America, a position it held until World War I.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> By then, Argentina had absorbed between 40% and 50% of all British investment outside the United Kingdom.<ref name="autogenerated5"/> Despite its dependence on the British market, Argentina managed a 6.7% annual rate of growth of exports between 1870 and 1890 as a result of successful geographic and commodity diversification.{{sfn|Bulmer-Thomas|2003|p=71}}
Alfonsín's economists did cut defense spending and budget deficits in 1984-86 and even publicly considered some privatizations as a means of shedding drains on the treasury and restoring business confidence; but these plans were partly the victim of bad timing, as most potential investors saw the prospects as too risky.<ref name="autogenerated2" /> Slack domestic demand helped create a cumulative US$20 billion in trade surpluses during Alfonsin's term;<ref name=indectrade/> but, massive tax evasion and the flight of much of this (and other) capital abroad forced the Central Bank to "print" money to cover both foreign debt interest and the estimated US$2 billion in yearly losses the panoply of [[government-owned corporation|state enterprises]] were chalking up, by then.<ref name=clarin3-89>''Clarín''. 3 March 1989.</ref> Ultimately, the [[World Bank]], under pressure from the new administration of [[George H. W. Bush]], dealt the suspense a final blow when, in February 1989, it recalled a US$350 million tranche of a loan package agreed on with the Central Bank. Unable to manoeuver because the Central Bank had earlier sold most of its scarce reserves to shore up its new currency (the [[Argentine austral|austral]]), the shock sent the austral into a tailspin<ref name=clarin3-89/> and amid [[1989 riots in Argentina|riots]], Alfonsín into retirement five months early.


The [[Buenos Aires Western Railway|first Argentine railway]], a {{Convert|10|km||abbr=|adj=on|sp=us|spell=in}} road, had been built in 1854.<ref name="aituipm38"/> By 1885, a total of {{convert|2700|mi|km}} of railways were open for traffic.<ref name="aituipm38">{{cite book|last=Williams|first=John Henry|title=Argentine international trade under inconvertible paper money, 1880–1900|url=https://archive.org/stream/argentineinterna00willuoft#page/38/mode/1up|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=38|year=1920}}</ref> The new railways brought livestock to Buenos Aires from the vast [[pampas]], for slaughter and processing in the (mainly English) [[Meat packing industry|meat-packing plants]], and then for shipment around the world.<ref name="econhtan"/> Some contemporary analysts lamented the export bias of the network configuration, while opposing the "monopoly" of private British companies on nationalist grounds.<ref name=brrail>{{cite web|last=Lewis |first=Colin M. |title=Britain, the Argentine and Informal Empire: rethinking the role of railway companies |url=http://www2.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/pdf/Lewis/Rethinking%20the%20role%20of%20railways%20-Sept-2007.pdf |publisher=London School of Economics |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130422085957/http://www2.lse.ac.uk/economicHistory/pdf/Lewis/Rethinking%20the%20role%20of%20railways%20-Sept-2007.pdf |archive-date=2013-04-22 |pages=17–18 |year=2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Others have since argued that the initial layout of the system was mostly shaped by domestic interests, and that it was not, in fact, strictly focused on the port of Buenos Aires.<ref name=brrail/>
====Convertibility and liberalization====
When [[President of Argentina|President]] [[Carlos Menem]] took office on July 8, 1989, the economy of the country was in a critical state. Argentina had piled up a US$ 65 billion [[external debt]], and output was plummeting. [[Inflation]], which had averaged over 200% a year during the 1975-1988 period,<ref name=indec/> reached 5000% in 1989; prices tripled in the month of July alone. GDP per capita had fallen from its 1974 peak by nearly a fourth and real median wages by around half.<ref>[http://www.monografias.com/trabajos901/argentina-trabajo-docentes-ensenanza-crisis/Image2489.jpg Monografias.com]</ref>


[[File:Débarquement d'immigrants à la Darse Sud. Port de Buenos Aires.jpg|thumb|left|Immigrants disembarking to the southern dock, port of Buenos Aires, early 20th century]]
[[Image:Domingo Cavallo.jpg|thumb|180px|The controversial Domingo Cavallo in 1982.]]
The scarcity of labor and abundance of land induced a high [[marginal product of labor]].{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=4}} [[Great European immigration wave to Argentina|European immigrants]] (chiefly [[Italian Argentines|Italians]], [[Spanish Argentines|Spaniards]], [[French Argentines|French]] and [[German Argentine|Germans]]),<ref name="econhtan">{{cite news|title=The history of the tango: A sense of where you were |newspaper=The Economist |date=2001-12-20 |url=http://www.economist.com/node/893086 }}</ref> tempted by the high wages,<ref name="pea"/> arrived in droves. The government subsidized European immigration for a short time in the late 1880s, but immigrants arrived in massive numbers even with no subsidy.{{sfn|Sánchez-Alonso|2010|p=2}}


===Baring crisis to World War I===
To combat the crisis, the President embarked on a path of [[Free trade|trade liberalisation]], [[deregulation]], and [[privatisation]]. Seeing very mixed results at first, he then appointed former [[Central Bank of Argentina|Central Bank]] head [[Domingo Cavallo]] [[Minister of Economy of Argentina|Minister of the Economy]]. In April 1991, Cavallo implemented radical monetary reforms which [[fixed exchange rate|pegged]] the new [[Argentine peso]] to the [[United States dollar]] and limited the growth in the [[monetary base]] by law to the growth in [[reserve currency|reserves]]. The 1991 "Convertibility Law" (''Ley de Convertibilidad'') established a quasi-[[Argentine Currency Board|currency board]]. The government privatised most state-controlled companies, opened the economy to foreign trade and investment and created [[workers compensation]] systems and private, elective [[pension funds]].
[[File:Threshing scene, Buenos Aires, between 1908 and 1919.jpg|thumb|Threshing scene, Buenos Aires, 1910s]]
[[Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman|Juárez Celman]]'s administration saw a substantial increase in the ratio of debt to GDP toward the end of his tenure and an increasing weakness in the fiscal situation.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=67}} The [[Baring Brothers]] merchant bank had developed a close and profitable association with Argentina, and when Celman's government was unable to meet its payments to the House of Baring, [[Baring crisis|a financial crisis]] ensued.{{sfn|Bulmer-Thomas|2003|p=71}} Argentina defaulted and suffered bank runs as the Baring Brothers faced failure.<ref>{{cite news|title=This Time Is Different – Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (summary) |publisher=getAbstract |url=http://www.economist.com/media/pdf/this-time-is-different-reinhart-e.pdf }}</ref> The crisis was caused by the lack of co-ordination between [[monetary policy]] and [[fiscal policy]], which ultimately led to the collapse of the banking system.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=6}} The financial crisis of 1890 left the government with no funds for its immigration subsidies program, and it was abolished in 1891.{{sfn|Sánchez-Alonso|2010|p=6}} Loans to Argentina were severely curtailed, and imports had to be cut sharply.{{sfn|Bulmer-Thomas|2003|p=71}} Exports were less affected, but the value of Argentine exports did not surpass the 1889 peak until 1898.{{sfn|Bulmer-Thomas|2003|p=71}}


Celman's successor, [[Carlos Pellegrini]], laid the foundations for a return to stability and growth after the restoration of convertibility in 1899.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=5}} He also reformed the banking sector in ways that were to restore stability in the medium term.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=5}} Rapid growth rates soon returned: in the period 1903–1913, GDP increased at an annual rate of 7.7%, and industry grew even faster, jumping by 9.6%.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=87}} By 1906, Argentina had cleared the last remnants of the 1890 default and a year later the country re-entered the international bond markets.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=87}}
Inflation (1300% in 1990) fell to 84% in 1991 and to single digits by 1993; GDP rebounded, growing by 5.5% on average between 1990 and 1998. A boom in the early 1990s was followed by more erratic growth after 1994.<ref name=indec/>


All the same, between 1853 and the 1930s, fiscal instability was a transitory phenomenon.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=68}} The depressions of 1873–77 and 1890–91 played a crucial role in fostering the rise of industry: timidly in the 1870s and more decisively in the 1890s, industry grew with each crisis in response to the need of a damaged economy to improve its trade balance through import-substitution.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=238}} By 1914, about 15% the Argentine labor force was involved in manufacturing, compared to 20% involved in commercial activities.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ades|first1=Alberto F.|last2=Glaeser|first2=Edward L.|title=Trade and Circuses: Explaining Urban Giants|journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics|volume=110|issue=1|pages=195–227|year=1995|doi=10.2307/2118515|jstor=2118515|citeseerx=10.1.1.724.2778|s2cid=154470166}}</ref> In 1913, the country's income per head was on a par with that of France and Germany, and far ahead of Italy's or Spain's.<ref name="econbsc">{{cite news|title=Becoming a serious country |newspaper=The Economist |date=2004-06-03 |url=http://www.economist.com/node/2704457 }}</ref> At the end of 1913, Argentina had a [[Gold reserve|gold stock]] of £59 million, or 3.7% of the world's monetary gold, while representing 1.2% of the world's economic output.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=300}}
Privatizations yielded mixed results and some became poster children of mismanagement ([[Aerolineas Argentinas]], notoriously). The structural reforms nonetheless provided stability and boosted confidence after decades of decline and chronic bouts of high inflation. These changes fostered major new investments in services and industry in the 1990s, particularly in the [[telecommunications]], [[Cuisine of Argentina|food processing]], [[Banking in Argentina|banking]], [[Rail transport in Argentina|freight rail]], [[Electricity sector in Argentina|energy]] and [[mining]] sectors.


==Interwar period==
Menem and Cavallo also cultivated trade relations with Argentina's neighbors, particularly [[Brazil]]. Inheriting negotiations begun in 1985, they secured the formal [[Treaty of Asuncion|treaty]] that instituted the [[MERCOSUR]] common market in March 1991, and Brazil soon became Argentina's largest trading partner.
===1914–1929===
[[File:YPF workers working on well 128, 1923.jpg|thumb|A group of [[YPF]] workers in 1923]]
Argentina, like many other countries, entered into a recession following the beginning of World War I as international flows of goods, capital and labour declined.<ref name="pea"/> Foreign investment in Argentina came to a complete standstill from which it never fully recovered:<ref name="ucematgu">{{cite book|last=Veigel|first=Klaus Friedrich|title=Governed by Emergency: Economic Policy-making in Argentina, 1973–1991|chapter-url=http://www.ucema.edu.ar/conferencias/download/Klaus1.pdf|year=2005|publisher=Princeton University|chapter=The Great Unraveling: Argentina 1973–1991|archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/63vquNOiS?url=http://www.ucema.edu.ar/conferencias/download/Klaus1.pdf|archive-date=2011-12-14}}</ref> Great Britain had become heavily indebted to the United States during the war and would never again export capital at a comparable scale.<ref name="ucematgu"/> And after the opening of the [[Panama Canal]] in 1914, Argentina and the other [[Southern cone]] economies declined, as investors turned their attention to Asia and the Caribbean.<ref name=awww188>{{cite book|last=MacLachlan|first=Colin M.|title=Argentina: what went wrong|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6t8tNjnzJUC&pg=PA188|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=188|year=2006|isbn=978-0275990763}}</ref> The United States, which came out of the war a political and financial superpower, especially perceived Argentina (and to a lesser extent Brazil) as a potential rival on world markets.<ref name="ucematgu"/> Neither the [[Buenos Aires Stock Exchange]] nor the private domestic banks developed rapidly enough to fully replace British capital.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=296}}


As a consequence, investable funds became increasingly concentrated in a single institution, the [[Banco de la Nacion Argentina]] (BNA), creating a financial system vulnerable to [[rent-seeking]].{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=296}} Rediscounting and [[non-performing loan]]s grew steadily at the BNA after 1914, polluting its balance sheet.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=9}} This corrosion of balance sheets was a result of [[crony]] loans to the other banks and the private sector.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=10}} In its rediscounting actions the BNA was not engaged in pure [[lender of last resort]] actions, following [[Walter Bagehot|Bagehot]]'s principle of lending freely at a penalty rate.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=10}} Instead, the state bank allowed the private banks to shed their risks, with [[bad paper]] used as security, and lent them cash at 4.5%, below the rate the BNA offered its customers on [[time deposits]].{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2002|p=10}}
Business investment more than doubled from 1990 to 1994 and partly as a result, Argentina's exports leapt from about US$12 billion in 1992 to around US$26 billion by 1997. The strong, fixed exchange rate, however, soon made imports a bargain again and the [[trade balance]] turned in a cumulative US$22 billion in [[deficit]]s between 1992 and 1999, including several billion from Brazil (putting strain on MERCOSUR).<ref>[http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/19/balan1910-2006.xls INDEC]</ref>


However, unlike its neighbors, Argentina became capable of still having relatively healthy growth rates during the 1920s, not being as affected by the worldwide collapse of commodity prices as Brazil and Chile were. Similarly, the gold standard was still in place at a time almost all European countries had abandoned it. Automobile ownership in the country in 1929 was the highest in the Southern hemisphere.
Forced to borrow abroad to maintain the dollar/[[Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency|peso]] parity under such pressure, the foreign debt quickly ballooned again. The national public debt, now mostly comprised by [[bond (finance)|bonds]] denominated in dollars, increased continuously, growing by more than 60% between 1994 and 1999.


For all its success, by the 1920s Argentina was not an industrialized country by the standards of Britain, Germany or the United States.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=96}} A major hindrance to full industrialization was the lack of energy sources such as coal or [[hydropower]].{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=96}} Experiments with oil, discovered in 1907, had poor results.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=96}} [[Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales]], the first state-owned oil company in Latin America,<ref>{{cite book|last=Wirth|first=John D.|title=The Oil Business in Latin America: The Early Years|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YlCKjxgA1GwC&pg=PA51|publisher=Beard Books|page=51|year=2001|isbn=978-1587981036}}</ref> was founded in 1922 as a public company responsible for 51% of the oil production; the remaining 49% was in private hands.<ref>{{cite SSRN |last=Estrada |first=Javier |title=Repsol-Ypf: Valuation In Emerging Markets |ssrn=319163 |page=2 |year=2002}}</ref>
[[Image:Argentina national debt 1994-2004.png|thumb|240px|left|Public debt of Argentina, 1994–2004.]]


Exports of frozen beef, especially to Great Britain, proved highly profitable after the invention of refrigerated ships in the 1870s.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jones|first=E. G.|title=The Argentine Refrigerated Meat Industry|journal=Economica|date=June 1929|issue=26|pages=156–172|doi=10.2307/2548200|jstor=2548200}}</ref> However Britain imposed new restrictions on meat imports in the late 1920s, which sharply reduced beef imports from Argentina. Ranchers responded by switching from [[livestock]] to [[crop]] production, but there was lasting damage to the Argentine economy.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Capie|first=Forrest|title=Invisible barriers to trade: Britain and Argentina in the 1920s|journal=Inter-American Economic Affairs|date=1981|volume=35|issue=3|pages=91–96|issn=0020-4943}}</ref>
The opening of the economy to imports, higher productivity and the deregulation of the labour market also fostered [[unemployment]], which went from less than 7% in 1991 to over 12% in 1994 and, propelled by the Mexican shock, to over 18% in 1995. Though recovery soon brought some relief, unemployment had only declined to 12% by the time GDP peaked, in mid-1998.<ref name=indec/>


===Great Depression===
These problems notwithstanding, Argentina was still considered a model for free market reforms among developing countries<ref name=WB/> and after the successful auction of "[[Nicholas F. Brady|Brady]] Bonds" in 1992, the central government was able to indebt itself entirely through the sale of treasury [[bond (finance)|bonds]] to support this model.<ref>[http://mecon.gov.ar/peconomica/basehome/infoeco/finanzas_publicas.htm Economy Ministry]</ref>. The [[Central Bank of Argentina|central bank]] raised almost US$100 billion this way by 2000 and Argentine debt became the most [[securities|securitized]] (or, dependent on free bond markets instead of on direct loans) in the developing world.<ref>[http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/IW3P/IB/05/30/000094946_03051504051564/additional/310436360_20050014095626.pdf World Bank]</ref>
[[File:Crisis del 30 Desocupados Puerto Villa Desocupacion Retiro 2 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Unemployed men in "Villa Desocupación" in [[Retiro, Buenos Aires|Retiro]], 1930.]]
[[File:Horacio Coppola - Buenos Aires 1936 - Manifestación.jpg|thumb|A traffic jam caused by a demonstration, Buenos Aires, 1936. Photo by [[Horacio Coppola]].]]
The [[Great Depression]] had a comparatively mild effect on Argentina:<ref name="romer"/> the unemployment rate never went above 10%,{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}} and the country largely recovered by 1935.<ref name="romer">{{cite web|last=D. Romer |first=Christina |title=Great Depression |page=6 |date=2003-12-20 |url=http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~cromer/great_depression.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207090017/http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~cromer/great_depression.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> However, the Depression permanently halted its economic expansion.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=4}} Actually, much like other developing countries, the economy was already in a downturn beginning in 1927, a result of declining prices.


Argentina abandoned the [[gold standard]] in December 1929, earlier than most countries.<ref name="ucematgu"/> For much of the previous period, the country had operated a currency board, in which a body known as the [[caja de conversión]] was charged with maintaining the peso's value in gold.<ref name="econdwp">{{cite news|title=Argentina's collapse: A decline without parallel |newspaper=The Economist |date=2002-02-28 |url=http://www.economist.com/node/1010911 }}</ref> The devaluation of the peso increased the competitiveness of its exports and protected domestic production.<ref name="pea"/> Argentina saw the value of its exports drop from $1,537 million in 1929 to $561 million in 1932, but this was by no means the most severe downturn in the region.{{sfn|Bulmer-Thomas|2003|p=197}}
====International instability====
In 1995, the [[1994 economic crisis in Mexico|Mexican peso crisis]] produced [[capital flight]], the loss of banking system deposits and a brief though severe [[recession]]; a series of reforms to bolster the domestic banking system followed. Real [[Gross Domestic Product|GDP]] growth recovered strongly, reaching 8% in 1997.


In response to the Great Depression, successive governments pursued a strategy designed to transform Argentina into a country self-sufficient in industry as well as agriculture.<ref name="britarg"/> The strategy of growth was based on import substitution in which tariffs and quotas for final goods were raised.<ref name="pea">{{cite web|last=Fritscher |first=André Martínez |title=The Political Economy of Argentina in the Twentieth Century (Review) |publisher=Economic History Services |date=2009-07-02 |url=http://eh.net/book_reviews/political-economy-argentina-twentieth-century |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110909092716/http://eh.net/book_reviews/political-economy-argentina-twentieth-century |archive-date=2011-09-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The import-substitution process had progressively been adopted since the late 19th century, but the Great Depression intensified it.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=238}} The government's encouragement of industrial growth diverted investment from agriculture, and agricultural production fell dramatically.<ref name="britarg"/>
In 1998, international financial turmoil caused by [[1998 Russian financial crisis|Russia's problems]] and increasing investor anxiety over Brazil produced the highest domestic interest rates in more than three years, halving the growth rate of the economy.


In 1930, the armed forces [[1930 Argentine coup d'état|forced]] the [[Radical Civic Union|Radicals]] from power and improved economic conditions, but political turbulence intensified.<ref name="cho"/> In 1932, Argentina required immigrants to have a labor contract prior to arrival, or proof of financial means of support.{{sfn|Sánchez-Alonso|2010|p=24}} The [[Roca-Runciman Treaty]] of 1933 gave Argentina a quota of the British market for exports of its primary products, but the discriminatory British imperial tariffs and the effects of [[deflation]] in Britain actually led to a small decline of Argentine exports to Great Britain.{{sfn|Bethell|1991|p=96}}
While [[macroeconomics]] recovered fairly quickly from the effects of the [[1994 economic crisis in Mexico|Mexican crisis of 1994-95]] (known as the ''Tequila Effect''), Argentina could not return to strong growth after the [[recession]] that followed the successive shocks from [[Asia]], [[Russia]] and Brazil.


Unemployment resulting from the Great Depression caused unrest.<ref name="cho"/> The industrial growth spurt of the 1930s gradually slowed.<ref name="che"/> The economic conditions of the 1930s contributed to the process of internal migration from the countryside and smaller towns to the cities, especially Buenos Aires, where there were greater opportunities for employment.{{sfn|Lovering|Southgate|2007|p=12}} The urban working classes led several unsuccessful uprisings prior to the [[Argentine presidential election, 1937|1937 presidential elections]].<ref name="cho">{{cite web|title=Argentina Overview |work=Commanding Heights: The Battle For The World Economy |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_overview.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111009055402/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_overview.html |archive-date=2011-10-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Traditional export agriculture stagnated at the outbreak of World War II and remained sluggish.<ref name="che">{{cite web|title=Argentina Economic |work=Commanding Heights: The Battle For The World Economy |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_economic.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926074151/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_economic.html |archive-date=2011-09-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
====The Argentine crisis====
{{main|Argentine economic crisis (1999–2002)}}


==Import substitution industrialization Era==
In 1999, following the 1998 international crisis, GDP fell by 3% and Argentina entered fully into recession. President [[Fernando de la Rúa]], who took office in December 1999 following the 10-year administration of [[Carlos Menem]], sponsored tax increases and spending cuts to reduce the deficit, which had ballooned to 2.5% of GDP. The new government also arranged a new US$7.4 billion stand-by facility with the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) for contingency purposes {{ndash}} almost three times the size of the previous arrangement. The new government passed laws intended to change the country's labour code, and attempted to address the precarious financial situation of several highly indebted provinces.
===First Peronist period: Nationalization===
[[File:Escuelas técnicas - ca 1945.jpg|thumb|A vocational school in 1945]]
[[File:Nacionalizacion servicios.jpg|thumb|190px|left|Propaganda poster of the first [[Five-Year Plans of Argentina|Five-Year Plan]] (1946–1951) promoting the nationalization of public services]]
After the [[1943 Argentine coup d'état]], [[Juan Perón]], a member of the [[United Officers Group]] that engineered the plot,<ref>{{cite web|last=McGann|first=Thomas F.|title=Juan Perón (president of Argentina)|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/452378/Juan-Peron/5608?view=section|publisher=Britannica Online Encyclopedia|archive-url=https://archive.today/20111218005400/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/452378/Juan-Peron/5608?view=section|archive-date=2011-12-18|url-status=dead}}</ref> became Minister of Labor.<ref name="cho"/> Campaigning among workers with promises of land, higher wages, and social security, he won a decisive victory in the [[Argentine general election, 1946|1946 presidential elections]].<ref name="cho"/> Under Perón, the number of unionized workers expanded as he helped to establish the powerful [[General Confederation of Labour (Argentina)|General Confederation of Labor]].<ref name="cho"/> Perón turned Argentina into a [[corporatist]] country in which powerful organized interest groups negotiated for positions and resources.<ref name="cho"/> During these years, Argentina developed the largest middle class on the South American continent.<ref name="chs">{{cite web|title=Argentina Social |work=Commanding Heights: The Battle For The World Economy |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_social.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401224024/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_social.html |archive-date=2011-04-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


Early Peronism was a period of macroeconomic shocks during which a strategy of import substitution industrialization was put into practice.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=8}} [[Bilateral trade]], [[exchange control]] and multiple exchange rates were its most important characteristics.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=8}} Beginning in 1947, Perón took a leftward shift after breaking up with the "Catholic nationalism" movement, which led to gradual state control of the economy, reflected in the increase in state-owned property, [[Economic interventionism|interventionism]] (including control of rents and prices) and higher levels of public investment, mainly financed by the [[inflationary tax]]. The expansive macroeconomic policy, which aimed at the [[redistribution of wealth]] and the increase of spending to finance populist policies, led to inflation.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=8}}
The issue of Argentina's massive [[public debt]] became a subject of considerable controversy, and increased tension between Argentine governments and the IMF. In 2001, capital flight increased, and the government found itself unable to meet debt payments. The crisis exploded after the ''[[corralito]]'' (an almost complete freezing of bank deposits) caused [[cacerolazo|massive protests]]. After the [[December 2001 riots (Argentina)|December 2001 riots]], President De la Rúa resigned.


Wartime reserves enabled the Peronist government to fully pay off the external debt in 1952; by the end of the year, Argentina became a net creditor to the tune of US$5 billion.{{Citation needed|date=June 2020}} Between 1946 and 1948, the French and British-owned railways were nationalized, and the existing networks were expanded, with the rail network reaching 120,000 kilometers by 1954.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slideshare.net/blogfundacionrucci/la-economa-argentinapresente-pasado-y-futuro-jorge-todesca-19112009-en-cgt-fr-2853428 |title=La economía Argentina-Presente, Pasado y Futuro |author=Jorge Todesca |date=19 November 2009}}</ref> The government also established the [[IAPI]] to control the foreign trade in export commodities.<ref>{{cite book|title=The politics of national capitalism: Peronism and the Argentine bourgeoisie&nbsp;... |url=<!--Note that the Google Books version of this shows the wrong book -->|publisher=Penn State Press|author1=James P. Brennan |author2=Marcelo Rougier |page=2|year=2009|isbn=978-0271035727}}</ref> Perón erected a system of almost complete [[protectionism|protection]] against imports, largely cutting off Argentina from the international market.<ref name="cht"/> In 1947, he announced his first [[Five-Year Plans of Argentina|Five-Year Plan]] based on growth of nationalized industries.<ref name="che"/> Protectionism also created a domestically oriented industry with high production costs, incapable of competing in international markets.<ref name="che"/> At the same time, output of beef and grain, the country's main export goods, stagnated.<ref name="cht">{{cite web|title=Argentina Trade Policy |work=Commanding Heights: The Battle For The World Economy |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_trade.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426054555/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_trade.html |archive-date=2011-04-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The IAPI began shortchanging growers and, when world grain prices dropped in the late 1940s, it stifled agricultural production, exports and business sentiment, in general.<ref>{{cite news|author=Antonio Cafiero |title=Intimidaciones, boicots y calidad institucional |newspaper=Página/12 |date=2008-05-07 |url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/subnotas/103697-32644-2008-05-07.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211073528/http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/subnotas/103697-32644-2008-05-07.html |archive-date=2012-02-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Despite these shortcomings, protectionism and government credits did allow an exponential growth of the internal market: radio sales increased 600% and fridge sales grew 218%, among others.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pablo Gerchunoff |title=''Peronist Economic Policies, 1946–1955'' |publisher=di Tella y Dornbusch |pages=59–85 |year=1989}}</ref>
On [[December 23]], [[2001]], interim president [[Adolfo Rodríguez Saá]] declared a short-lived debt [[moratorium]]. After a few days, Argentina officially [[Default (finance)|defaulted]] on $93 billion of its debt, mostly the securitized bonds.


During the first Five-Year Plan, various public works and programs were executed, with the aim to modernize the country's infrastructure. For example, a total of 22 hydroelectric power plants were erected, increasing electrical output from 45,000 kVA in 1943 to 350,000 kVA in 1952. Between 1947 and 1949, a network of gas pipelines, which linked [[Comodoro Rivadavia]] with [[Buenos Aires]], was built. The gas distribution reached 15 million m³, reducing costs by a third.<ref>{{cite book |last=Llach |first=Lucas |date=1998 |title=''El ciclo de la ilusión y el desencanto: un siglo de políticas económicas argentinas'' |publisher=Ariel |isbn=978-9509122574 }}<!--|access-date=7 October 2014 --></ref>
[[Image:Buenos Aires - Manifestación contra el Corralito - 20020206-22.JPG|thumb|190px|left|February 2002: Depositors protest against frozen accounts for fear they might lose value, or worse.]]


During this period Argentina's economy continued to grow, on average, but more slowly than the world as a whole or than its neighbors, Brazil and Chile.<ref name="ehsiglo"/> A suggested cause is that a multitude of frequently changed regulations, at times extended to ridiculous specifics (such as a 1947 decree setting prices and menus for restaurants), choked economic activity.<ref name="ehsiglo"/> The long-term effect was to create pervasive disregard for the law, which Argentines came to view as a hindrance to earning a living rather than an aid to enforcing legitimate property rights.<ref name="ehsiglo">{{cite web|last=Schuler |first=Kurt |title=La economía argentina en la segunda mitad del siglo XX (Review) |publisher=Economic History Services |date=2005-11-27 |url=http://eh.net/book_reviews/la-econom%C3%AD-argentina-en-la-segunda-mitad-del-siglo-xx |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927215603/http://eh.net/book_reviews/la-econom%C3%AD-argentina-en-la-segunda-mitad-del-siglo-xx |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The combination of industrial protectionism, redistribution of income from the agrarian to the industrial sector, and growing state intervention in the economy sparked an inflationary process.<ref name="chm">{{cite web|title=Argentina Money |work=Commanding Heights: The Battle For The World Economy |publisher=PBS |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_money.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110401224347/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/countries/ar/ar_money.html |archive-date=2011-04-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1950, Argentina's GDP per capita accounted fell to less than half of that of the United States.<ref>{{cite web |last=Arnaut |first=Javier |title=Understanding the Latin American Gap during the era of Import Substitution: Institutions, Productivity, and Distance to the Technology Frontier in Brazil, Argentina and Mexico's Manufacturing Industries, 1935–1975 |url=http://www.fcs.edu.uy/archivos/Arnaut,%20Understanding%20the%20Latin%20American%20Gap%20during%20the%20era%20of%20Import%20Substitution.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051927/http://www.fcs.edu.uy/archivos/Arnaut,%20Understanding%20the%20Latin%20American%20Gap%20during%20the%20era%20of%20Import%20Substitution.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
In January 2002, the convertibility plan that pegged the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar on a one-to-one basis was scrapped, after nearly 11 years. The peso was floated and suffered a swift and sharp [[devaluation]] (losing about 70% of its value in four months), which in turn triggered a 40% surge in consumer prices.


Perón's second Five-Year Plan in 1952 favored increased agricultural output over industrialization, but industrial growth and high wages in previous years had expanded the domestic demand for agrarian goods.<ref name="che"/> During the 1950s, output of beef and grain fell, and the economy suffered.<ref name="che"/> The policy shift toward agricultural production created a gap in income distribution, as the majority of those who worked in agriculture labored on tiny plots, while the majority of the land was in large estates.<ref name="chs"/> Argentina signed trade agreements with Britain, the Soviet Union and Chile, slightly opening the market to international trade as Perón's second economic plan sought to capitalize on the country's comparative advantage in agriculture.<ref name="cht"/>
In 2002, Argentina's [[Measures of national income and output|GDP]] sunk by 10.9%; GDP fell to its 1993 level and on a per capita basis, to that of 1968. Income poverty in Argentina grew from an already high 35.4% in October 2001 to a peak of 54.3% in October 2002;<ref>[http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/74/grafpobreza2.xls INDEC]</ref> the last official report is 21% for the second half of 2007, which means the country has returned to pre-crisis levels. Unemployment, having exceeded 20% in 2002, has also declined; it has averaged around 8% since 2007.<ref name="autogenerated4"/>


====Debt restructuring and the role of the IMF====
===Post-Peron era and the 1960s===
[[File:GDP per capita in US Dollars, 1965, Austria, Italy, Argentina, Ireland, Japan, Greece, Spain, Chile, Portugal, Mexico, Brazil.png|thumb|left|In terms of GDP per capita, Argentina remained well above its neighbors as late as 1965]]
In a speech before the [[United Nations]] [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] in May 2004, President [[Néstor Kirchner|Kirchner]] asked for "a structural redesign of the [[International Monetary Fund]]", which has changed "from being a lender for development to a creditor demanding privileges".
[[File:Clementina.jpg|thumb|In 1961, a [[Ferranti Mercury]] II named "Clementina" became one of the first computers in use in Argentina.<ref>{{cite web|title=Un cuento para recordar a Clementina, la primer computadora argentina|url=http://www.canal-ar.com.ar/noticias/noticiamuestra.asp?Id=10555#|publisher=CanalAR|language=es|date=2011-04-05}}</ref>]]
In the 1950s and part of the 1960s, the country had a slow rate of growth in line with most Latin American countries, while most of the rest of the world enjoyed [[Post–World War II economic expansion|a golden era]].{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=4}} Stagnation prevailed during this period, and the economy often found itself contracting, mostly the result of union strife.{{sfn|Rocchi|2006|p=4}}


Wage growth beginning in 1950 pushed prices up.<ref name="chm"/> The inflation rate increased faster, and soon real wages fell.<ref name="chm"/> High inflation prompted a stabilization plan that included tighter monetary policy, a cut in public expenditures, and increases in taxes and utility prices.<ref name="chm"/> Increasing economic wariness as the 1950s progressed became one of the leading causes for Perón's downfall in the [[Revolución Libertadora]] of 1955, as the working classes saw their quality of life diminished, thus stripping Perón from a large part of his popular support.<!--to expand-->
Shortly after, at the meeting of the IMF and the [[World Bank]], leaders of the IMF, the [[European Union]], the [[G7|Group of Seven]] industrialised nations, and the [[Institute of International Finance]] (IIF), warned Kirchner that Argentina must come to a debt-restructuring agreement, increase its primary budget surplus to pay more debt and impose "structural reforms" to regain the trust of the world financial community.


[[Arturo Frondizi]] won the [[Argentine general election, 1958|1958 presidential election]] in a landslide.{{sfn|Bethell|1991|p=101}} In the same year he announced the beginning of the "[[oil battle]]": a new attempt at import substitution which aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in oil production by signing several contract with foreign companies for the mining and exploitation of oil.{{sfn|Bethell|1991|p=103}} In 1960, Argentina joined the [[Latin American Free Trade Association]].<ref name="cht"/>
The [[Argentine debt restructuring|debt restructuring process]] was long and complex. Argentina offered a steep discount on its obligations (approximately 70%) and finally settled the matter with over 76% of its defaulted creditors (the default did not include the IMF, which has continued to be paid on time).


Another coup in June 1966, the so-called [[Argentine Revolution]], brought [[Juan Carlos Onganía]] to power. Ongania appointed [[Adalbert Krieger Vasena]] to head the Economy Ministry.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=74}} His strategy implied a very active role for the public sector in guiding the process of economic growth,{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=74}} calling for state control over the money supply, wages and prices, and bank credit to the private sector.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=79}}
In December 2005, Kirchner decided to liquidate the Argentine debt to the IMF in a single payment, without refinancing, for a total of $9.8 billion. The payment was partly financed by Venezuela, who bought Argentine bonds for US$1.6 billion. <ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2006/01/10/elpais/p-01501.htm Clarín]</ref>


[[File:02 Rosariazo Saldi.jpg|thumb|The [[Rosariazo]] in 1969. The worsening economy and the onset of dictatorship led to waves of protests, strikes and riots.]]
In 2006, Argentina reentered international debt markets selling US$500 million of its Bonar V five year dollar denominated bonds, with a yield of 8.36%, mostly to foreign banks and [[Moody's]] boosted Argentina's debt rating to B from B-. <ref>[http://www.gfmag.com/index.php?idPage=98 Global Finance]</ref> However, the reliance of Argentina on Venezuela for a large portion of its financing needs has not been well received in Wall Street circles. On July 18, 2006 [[Goldman Sachs]] Emerging Markets Research noted: "Instead of trying to restore its credibility with the broad capital markets, the government keeps on relying on Venezuela as its main credit supplier" (as quoted in the Wall Street Journal on July 28, 2006). The total amount of Argentina's debt held by Venezuela is estimated at around US$6 billion, as of mid-2008.<ref>[http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia/2008/05/23/venezuela-compra-deuda-argentina CNN]</ref> Continuing her husband's policy of debt cancellation, President [[Cristina Kirchner]] announced the repayment of Argentina's US$6.7 billion debt to [[Paris Club]] creditors on 3 September 2008.<ref>[http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/09/02/argentina.debt.ap/index.html CNN]</ref>
Krieger's tenure witnessed increased concentration and centralization of capital, coupled with privatization of many important sectors of the economy.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=74}} The international financial community offered strong support for this program, and economic growth continued.<ref name="che"/> GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 5.2% between 1966 and 1970, compared to 3.2% during the 1950s.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=77}}


After 1966, in a radical departure from past policies, the Ministry of Economy announced a program to reduce rising inflation while promoting competition, efficiency, and foreign investment.<ref name="che"/> The anti-inflation program focussed on controlling nominal wages and salaries.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=82}} Inflation decreased sharply, decreasing from an annual rate of about 30% in 1965–67 to 7.6% in 1969.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=77}} Unemployment remained low, but real wages fell.{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=77}}
[[Image:Néstor Kirchner y José Luis Gioja-San Juan-25 de marzo de 2004.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Néstor Kirchner|President Néstor Kirchner]] savors the moment in a reopened cookie factory, 2004.]]


A gradual reversal in trade policy culminated in the military announcing import substitution as a failed experiment, lifting protectionist barriers and opening the economy to the world market.<ref name="cht"/> This new policy boosted some exports, but an overvalued currency meant certain imports were so cheap that local industry declined, and many exports were priced out of the market.<ref name="cht"/> The Ministry of Economy put an end to the exchange rate policy of previous governments.<ref name="chm"/> The currency underwent a 30% devaluation.<ref name="chm"/> In 1970, the "peso moneda nacional" (one of the longest-lived currencies in the region) was replaced by the "[[Argentine peso ley|peso ley]]" [shortened form of "peso ley 18188"] (100 to 1).
====Economic expansion====
The [[Argentine economy]] has been [[economic growth|growing]] again with surprising strength: 9% annual growth, sustained for five consecutive years (2003 through 2007). This stability was initially due to a surge in trade surpluses (over all previous historical records) and the sustained growth has been led by an over three-fold jump in [[fixed investment|business investment]] since the 2002 low.<ref>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar Economy Ministry]</ref> This reflects the return of local and international confidence, as well as record [[public works]] investment and a vigorous incomes policy on the part of former Economy Minister [[Roberto Lavagna]] and as general policy in the two [[Néstor Kirchner|Kirchner]] Administrations.<ref name="infoeco">[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/download/infoeco/apendice2.xls#A2.5!A1 Economy Ministry]</ref> Private sector employers have, since then, created over 3 million jobs and recovered median pay to over US$800 a month (about US$1,600, in purchasing power parity terms), a level closer to Argentina's historical average.<ref name=empleo/><ref>[http://www.ieco.clarin.com/2008/06/18/01696111.html Clarín.com]</ref> This has boosted local consumption by two-thirds in real terms; but, foreign investment has increased only modestly.<ref name="autogenerated3"/> The Kirchners have also addressed deficiencies among certain public services privatized during the 1990s, revoking licences granted to private interests at the time; among these, some of the most notable have been: the national postal service (2003), the [[Ferrocarril San Martin|San Martín Railway line]] (2004), the water utility serving the [[Province of Buenos Aires]] (2006)<ref>[http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=790844 La Nación]</ref> and, recently, [[Aerolíneas Argentinas]].<ref>[http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:FYL5gNq20dQJ:www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm%3Ffa%3Dviewfeature%26id%3D1563%26language%3Denglish+%22Aerolineas+Argentinas%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us Wharton School]</ref> Private pension funds, which were first licenced in 1994, suffered large losses during the 1998-2002 crisis and by 2008, the state subsidized 77% of the funds' beneficiaries, including 40% whose annuities could not cover minimum monthly pensions; of the funds' 9.5 million affiliates, nearly 6 million had stopped making contributions.<ref name=clarinafjp>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2008/10/20/elpais/p-01785008.htm Clarín]</ref> The [[2008 financial crisis]] excacerbated the problem and on 20 October, Pres. Cristina Kirchner announced plans for the nationalization of the funds' investments of over US$30 billion, while leaving contributors the freedom to invest in private pension funds, which the central bank plans to purchase a minority stake in.<ref name=clarinafjp/><ref>[http://www.safjp.gov.ar/SISAFJP/ SAFJP]</ref>


In May 1969, discontent with Krieger's economic policies led to riots in the cities of [[Correntinazo|Corrientes]], [[Rosariazo|Rosario]] and [[Cordobazo|Córdoba]].<ref name="brit6673"/> Krieger was removed, but the Onganía administration was unable to agree on an alternative economic policy.<ref name="brit6673">{{cite web|title=Military government, 1966–73 |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33657/Argentina/33089?view=section |publisher=Britannica Online Encyclopedia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141013033419/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/33657/Argentina/33089?view=section |archive-date=2014-10-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By 1970, the authorities were no longer capable of maintaining wage restraints, leading to a [[wage-price spiral]].{{sfn|Smith|1991|p=79}} As the economy started to languish and [[import substitution industrialization]] ran out of steam, urban migration slowed.<ref name="chs"/> Per capita income fell, and with it the standard of living.<ref name="chs"/> Perón's third term of office was characterized by an [[monetary expansion|expansive monetary policy]], which resulted in an uncontrolled rise in the level of inflation.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=8}}
[[Manufacturing]] in Argentina has recovered quickly from the crisis. Benefiting from an undervalued local currency that allowed industry to produce goods with competitive prices in the international market, manufacturing in general has grown by over 60% since [[2002]] and some long-suffering industries, such as [[textiles]], [[furniture]], [[machinery]], [[construction]] materials and [[publishing]] have more than doubled their output.<ref name=actividad>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/peconomica/basehome/infoeco/nivel_de_actividad.htm Economy Ministry]</ref> Motor vehicle output, in particular, has jumped from a depressed 159,000 units in 2002 to a record 545,000 units in 2007 (auto sales have risen even more).<ref name=ADEFA/>
====Criticism====
According to the [[Heritage Foundation]], a Washington-based conservative think tank, the state's role in the economy has expanded since the start of the Kirchner administration, primarily through price fixing in some industries and the creation of a state-owned airline and a state-owned energy company. The Heritage Foundation assigns Argentina a score of 3.3 (mostly unfree) in [[economic freedom]] on a scale of 1 to 5 of, which places the country in the 109th position of the 157 evaluated at the [[Index of Economic Freedom]].


== Deindustrialization (1975–2002)==
Though nothing new to Argentina, inflation has also proven difficult to contain. Price stability returned quickly after the 2002 crisis and [[Néstor Kirchner|Pres. Kirchner]] inherited annual inflation in the 3-4% range. The robust recovery that followed has been accompanied by growth in median incomes averaging 17% (including a 25% jump in the year to April 2008, alone); but it has also seen a 26% average expansion in the [[monetary base]].<ref name="infoeco"/>
=== Stagnation (1975–1990) === <!--linked from [[Falklands War]]-->
[[File:Fall in value of the Argentine currency - Wertverfall der argentinischen Währung 1935 - 2005.png|thumb|From the [[Rodrigazo]] in 1975, inflation accelerated sharply, leading to several [[redenomination]]s of the Argentine currency.]]


Between 1975 and 1990, real per capita income fell by more than 20%, wiping out almost three decades of economic development.<ref name="ucematgu"/> The manufacturing industry, which had experienced a period of uninterrupted growth until the mid-1970s, began a process of continuous decline.<ref name=trp150>{{cite web|last=Kosacoff |first=Bernardo |title=The Argentine Industry A Thwarted Restructuring Process |url=http://www.cei.gov.ar/userfiles/kosacoffproduccin%20y%20trabajo%20en%20Argentina%201860-1960.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902195500/http://www.cei.gov.ar/userfiles/kosacoffproduccin%20y%20trabajo%20en%20Argentina%201860-1960.pdf |archive-date=2011-09-02 |page=150 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The extreme dependence on state support of the many protected industries exacerbated the sharp fall of the industrial output.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=289}} The degree of industrialization at the start of the 1990s was similar to its level in the 1940s.<ref name=trp150/>
The Kirchner Administration began pursuing a price truce with retailers as early as 2005; but, with [[macroeconomic]] pressures at these levels, the initiative soon failed.<ref>[http://www.clarin.com.ar/diario/2005/12/09/um/m-01104631.htm Clarin.com]</ref> To make matters worse, in early 2007 the administration began interfering with inflation estimates and, as of mid-2008, continues to do so<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/02/22/um/m-01368275.htm Clarin.com]</ref> (by how much, of course, remains a subject of debate; but, where the Economy Ministry has refused to acknowledge [[inflation]] greater than 10%, their own measure of ''implicit private consumption prices'' (a factor in GDP estimates) suggests inflation in the order of 19%).<ref name="autogenerated3"/>


In the early 1970s, per capita income in Argentina was twice as high as in Mexico and more than three times as high as in Chile and Brazil. By 1990, the difference in income between Argentina and the other Latin American countries was much smaller.<ref name="ucematgu"/> Starting with the [[Rodrigazo]] in 1975, inflation accelerated sharply, reaching an average of more than 300% per year from 1975 to 1991, increasing prices 20 billion times.<ref name="ucematgu"/>
==Banking==
[[Image:Banco-central-arg.JPG|thumb|260px|[[Banco de la Nacion Argentina|Bank of the Argentine Nation ''(Banco de la Nación Argentina)'']], Buenos Aires.]]
{{main|Banking in Argentina}}


When the [[military dictatorship]] finance minister [[José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz]] assumed power, inflation was equivalent to an annual rate of 5000%, and output had declined sharply.<ref name="dmi">{{cite web|author1=Rudiger Dornbusch |author2=Juan Carlos de Pablo |title=Argentina: Debt and Macroeconomic Instability |page=13 |publisher=National Bureau Of Economic Research |date=September 1987 |url=http://cdi.mecon.gov.ar/biblio/docelec/nber/w2378.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/63vtJrm5Q?url=http://cdi.mecon.gov.ar/biblio/docelec/nber/w2378.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1976, the era of import substitution was ended, and the government lowered import barriers, liberalized restrictions on foreign borrowing, and supported the peso against foreign currencies.<ref name="britarg"/> That exposed the fact that domestic firms could not compete with foreign imports because of the overvalued currency and long-term structural problems.{{sfn|Della Paolera|Taylor|2003|p=289}} A financial reform was implemented that aimed both to liberalize capital markets and to link Argentina more effectively with the world capital market.<ref name="dmi"/>
Argentine banking, whose deposits exceeded US$75 billion in April, 2008,<ref>[http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/polmon/InfBanc0408.pdf BCRA]</ref> developed around public sector banks but is now dominated by the private sector, which makes up most of the 85 active institutions (4,000 branches) in the country and holds about 60% of deposits and loans. Locally and foreign-owned institutions split this percentage about evenly.<ref>[http://www.aba-argentina.com/informes/memoria-anual-2007/Memoria2007versionEspanol.pdf ABA]</ref> The largest bank in Argentina by far, however, has long been the public [[Banco de la Nación Argentina]]; not to be confused with the [[Central Bank of Argentina|Central Bank]], this institution now accounts for about a fourth of the system's total deposits and a seventh of its loan portfolio.<ref>[http://www.aba-argentina.com/informes/ranking_bancos/pdf/rankingfebrero2008.xls ABA]</ref>


After the relatively stable years of 1976 to 1978, fiscal deficits started to climb again, and the external debt tripled in three years.<ref name="cwnp102"/> The increased debt burden interrupted industrial development and upward social mobility.<ref>Keith B. Griffin, Alternative strategies for economic development [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development]], Development Centre, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1989, p. 59.</ref> From 1978, the rate of exchange depreciation was fixed with a ''tablita'', an active [[crawling peg]] that was based on a timetable to announce a gradually-declining rate of depreciation.<ref name="dmi"/><ref name="exch-hist">{{cite web|last1=Frenkel |first1=Roberto |last2=Rapetti |first2=Martín |title=A Concise History of Exchange Rate Regimes in Latin America |url=http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/exchange-rates-latin-america-2010-04.pdf |publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306012448/http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/exchange-rates-latin-america-2010-04.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-06 |page=27 |date=April 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The announcements were repeated on a rolling basis to create an environment in which economic agents could discern a government commitment to deflation.<ref name="dmi"/> Inflation gradually fell throughout 1980 to below 100%.<ref name="dmi"/> In 1978 and 1979, the real exchange rate appreciated because inflation consistently outpaced the rate of depreciation.<ref name="dmi"/> The [[overvaluation]] ultimately led to [[capital flight]] and a financial collapse.<ref name="dmi"/>
During the 1990s Argentina's financial system was consolidated and strengthened. Deposits grew from less than US$15 billion in 1991 to over US$80 billion in 2000, while outstanding credit (70% of it to the private sector) tripled to nearly US$100 billion .<ref name="autogenerated1">[http://www.aba-argentina.com/informes/memoria_anual/memoria-anual-2007/Memoria2007versionEspanol.pdf ABA]</ref>


[[File:BANCO DE INTERCAMBIO REGIONAL.jpg|thumb|left|The failure of [[Banco de Intercambio Regional]], in March 1980, led to runs on other banks.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reinhart |first1=Carmen M. |last2=Rogoff |first2=Kenneth S. |title=Banking Crises: An Equal Opportunity Menace |url=http://www.true-sale-international.de/fileadmin/tsi_downloads/ABS_Research/Finanzmarktkrisen_historischen_Vergleich/Banking_Crises_1_.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305103619/http://www.true-sale-international.de/fileadmin/tsi_downloads/ABS_Research/Finanzmarktkrisen_historischen_Vergleich/Banking_Crises_1_.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-05 |page=64 |date=2008-12-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref>]]
The banking system largely lent US dollars and took deposits in [[Argentine peso]]s and when the Peso lost most of its value in early 2002, many borrowers again found themselves hard-pressed to keep up; delinquencies tripled to about 37%.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Over a fifth of deposits had been pulled out by December 2001, when [[Minister of Economy of Argentina|Economy Minister]] [[Domingo Cavallo]] imposed a near-[[corralito|freeze]] on cash withdrawals. The lifting of restrictions a year later was bittersweet, being greeted calmly if with some umbrage at not having these funds freed at their full [[U.S. Dollar]] value.<ref>[http://clarin.com/diario/2002/12/03/e-00801.htm Clarin.com]</ref> Some fared worse; the owners of the now-defunct Velox Bank defrauded their clients of up to US$800 million.<ref>[http://ipsnews.net/print.asp?idnews=39063 IPS News]</ref>


Growing government spending, large wage raises, and inefficient production created a [[chronic inflation]] that rose through the 1980s, when it briefly exceeded an annual rate of 1000%.<ref name="britarg"/> Successive regimes tried to control inflation by wage and price controls, cuts in public spending, and restriction of the money supply.<ref name="britarg"/> Efforts to stem the problems came to naught when in 1982 Argentina came into armed conflict with the United Kingdom over the [[Falkland Islands]].<ref name="cwnp102"/>
Credit in Argentina is still relatively tight. Lending to the private sector has been growing by 40% a year since 2004 and deliquencies are down to 2-3%; but, credit outstanding is still, in real terms, about 20% less than in 2000 and as a percent of GDP, quite low by international standards. The [[prime rate]], which had hovered around 10% in the 1990s, hit 67% in 2002 and though it returned to normal levels quickly, rising inflation has been affecting it again (the prime rate was 19% in August 2008).<ref>[http://www.bcra.gov.ar/pdfs/polmon/bol0808.pdf BCRA]</ref>


[[File:Stacked export arg all show 1975.1990.2.svg|thumb|Timeline of Argentine exports from 1975 to 1989]]
Partly a function of this and past instability, Argentine nationals also hold an estimated US$120 billion in overseas accounts and, as of 2007, this figure continues to grow (albeit slowly).<ref name=ieco>[http://www.ieco.clarin.com/notas/2008/07/06/01709567.html Clarin.com]</ref>


In August 1982, after Mexico had announced its [[Mexican Weekend|inability to service its debt]], Argentina approached the [[International Monetary Fund]] (IMF) for financial assistance, as it too was in serious difficulties.<ref name="cwnp102"/> While developments looked positive for a while, an IMF staff team visiting Buenos Aires in August 1983 discovered a variety of problems, particularly a loss of control over wages affecting both the budget and external competitiveness, and the program failed.<ref name="cwnp102"/> With the [[Argentine peso ley|peso]] quickly losing value to inflation, the new [[Argentine peso argentino]] was introduced in 1983, with 10,000 old pesos exchanged for each new peso.<ref name="britarg"/>
== Foreign trade ==
{{main|Foreign trade of Argentina}}


In December 1983, [[Raúl Alfonsín]] was elected President of Argentina, bringing an end to the military dictatorship.<ref name="cwnp102"/> Under Alfonsin, negotiations started on a new program with the IMF, but they led to nothing.<ref name="cwnp102"/> In March 1984, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela lent Argentina $300 million for three months, followed by a similar amount by the United States. That provided some breathing space as it was not before late September 1984 that an agreement was reached between the IMF and Argentina.<ref name="cwnp102"/>
Argentine exports are fairly well diversified; but, though agricultural raw materials were only 20% of the total in 2007, exports are (including processed goods) still 55% agricultural in origin. Soy products alone ([[soybean]]s, [[vegetable oil]], etc.) account for almost one fourth of the total. Argentina's leading export only a generation ago, [[cereal]]s (mostly [[maize]] and [[wheat]]) make up less than one tenth.


In 1985, the [[Argentine austral]] replaced the discredited peso.<ref name="cwnp102"/> In 1986, Argentina failed to pay the debt for several months, and the debt was renegotiated with the creditor banks.<ref name="cwnp84">{{cite web|first=Bernardo |last=Lischinsky |title=The Puzzle of Argentina's Debt Problem: Virtual Dollar Creation? |work=The Crisis that Was Not Prevented: Lessons for Argentina, the IMF, and Globalisation |publisher=Fondad |page=84 |url=http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208235151/http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1986 and 1987, the Austral Plan faded away, as fiscal policy was undermined by large off-budget spending and a loose monetary policy, again falling out of compliance with an [[IMF]] program.<ref name="cwnp102"/> A new IMF arrangement was reached in July 1987, only to collapse in March 1988.<ref name="cwnp102"/>
[[Image:Exportaciones argentina - 1991-2007.png|thumb|270px|Argentine exports since 1991, in billions of US dollars.]]


The next move by the authorities was to launch the Primavera Plan in August 1988, a package of [[heterodox economics|economically heterodox]] measures that foresaw little fiscal adjustment. The IMF refused to resume lending to Argentina.<ref name="cwnp102"/> Six months after its introduction, the plan collapsed, leading to hyperinflation<ref name="cwnp102"/> and [[1989 riots in Argentina|riots]].
Industrial manufactures today account for 30% of Argentine [[export]]s. The country exported over 316,000 motor vehicles in 2007 (mostly to Brazil and [[Mexico]])<ref>[http://adefa.com.ar/informacion_estadistica/2007 ADEFA]</ref> and, including auto parts, this is today the country's leading industrial export and about 10% of the grand total. Chemicals, steel, aluminum, machinery and plastics account for most of the remaining industrial exports.
A net energy importer until 1981, Argentina's fuel exports began increasing rapidly in the early 1990s and today account for about an eighth of the total. Refined fuels make up about half of this; crude petroleum and natural gas exports have been, together, hovering around US$3 billion in recent years.<ref name="autogenerated4" />


=== Convertibility Plan (1991–2002) ===
Argentine imports have historically been dominated by the need for industrial supplies, machinery and parts; together, these amounted to US$34 billion in 2007 (three-fourths of the total). Consumer goods (including motor vehicles) make up most of the rest.<ref name="autogenerated4" />
[[File:SHC2007 Retail Tour - Wal-Mart.jpg|thumb|Multinational retailers like [[Walmart]] and [[Carrefour]] opened hypermarkets in every major Argentine city in the early 1990s.<ref name="csrr"/>]]
The Peronist [[Carlos Menem]] was elected president in May 1989.<ref name="cwnp102"/> He immediately announced a new [[Shock therapy (economics)|shock program]], this time with more fiscal adjustment in view of a government deficit of 16% of GDP.<ref name="cwnp102"/> In November 1989 agreement was reached on yet another standby with the IMF, but again the arrangement was ended prematurely, followed by another bout of hyper-inflation, which reached 12,000% per year.<ref name="cwnp102">{{cite web|first=J. Onno |last=de Beaufort Wijnholds |title=The Argentine Drama: A View from the IMF Board |work=The Crisis that Was Not Prevented: Lessons for Argentina, the IMF, and Globalisation |publisher=Fondad |page=102 |url=http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208235151/http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


After the collapse of public enterprises during the late 1980s, privatization became strongly popular.<ref name="csrr"/> Menem privatized almost everything the state owned, except for a couple of banks.<ref name="econdwp"/> In terms of service there were indisputable improvements. For example, before the telephone privatization, to get a new line it was not unusual to wait more than ten years, and apartments with telephone lines carried a big premium in the market. After privatization the wait was reduced to less than a week.<ref name="csrr"/> Productivity increased as investment modernized farms, factories and ports.<ref name="econdwp"/> However, in all cases, there were large outflows of employees.<ref name="csrr"/> In addition, the process of privatization was suspected of corruption in many cases.<ref name="csrr">{{cite web|author=Sergio Pernice, [[Federico Sturzenegger]] |title=Culture and Social Resistance to Reform: A theory about the endogeneity of public beliefs with an application to the case of Argentina |url=http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/documentos/275.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419203417/http://www.ucema.edu.ar/publicaciones/download/documentos/275.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ultimately, the privatized enterprises became private (rather than public) monopolies.<ref name="econdwp"/> Their prices on long-term contracts were indexed to American inflation, even though prices in Argentina were falling.<ref name="econdwp"/>
==Investment==
U.S. [[Foreign direct investment|direct investment]] in Argentina is concentrated in telecommunications, petroleum and gas, electric energy, financial services, chemicals, food processing, and vehicle manufacturing. The stock of U.S. direct investment in Argentina approached $16 billion at the end of 1999, according to embassy estimates. Canadian, European, and Chilean firms{{ndash}} other important sources of capital{{ndash}} have also invested significant amounts. In all, foreign nationals hold over US$66 billion in [[list of countries by received FDI|direct investment]].<ref name=IMF>[http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/DQAF_Base_Page/?strcode=ARG&strcat=IND IMF]</ref>


In 1991, economy minister [[Domingo Cavallo]] set out to reverse Argentina's decline through free-market reforms such as open trade.<ref name="econdwp"/> On 1 January 1992, a [[monetary reform]] replaced the austral with the peso at a rate of 10,000 australs for 1 peso.<ref name=curcrisis>{{cite web|last1=Kaminsky |first1=Graciela |last2=Mati |first2=Amine |last3=Choueiri |first3=Nada |title=Thirty Years of Currency Crises in Argentina External Shocks or Domestic Fragility? |url=http://home.gwu.edu/~graciela/HOME-PAGE/RESEARCH-WORK/WORKING-PAPERS/argentina.pdf |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904073548/http://home.gwu.edu/~graciela/HOME-PAGE/RESEARCH-WORK/WORKING-PAPERS/argentina.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-04 |page=6 |date=October 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The cornerstone of the reform process was [[Argentine Currency Board|a currency board]], under which the peso was fixed by law at par to the dollar, and the money supply restricted to the level of [[hard currency|hard-currency]] reserves. This was a risky policy which meant at a later stage Argentina could not devalue.<ref name="econdwp"/> After a lag, inflation was tamed. With risk of devaluation apparently removed, capital poured in from abroad.<ref name="econdwp"/> GDP growth increased significantly and total employment rose steadily until mid-1993.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}} During the second half of 1994, the economy slowed down and unemployment increased from 10% to 12.2%.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}}
[[Image:Skyscrapers of Puerto Madero.jpg|thumb|270px|left|The recycled docklands at ''[[Puerto Madero]]'' are among the developments attracting foreign as well as local investment.]]


Although the economy was already in a mild recession at this point, conditions worsened substantially after the [[Tequila crisis|devaluation of the Mexican peso]] during December 1994.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}} The economy shrank by 4%, and a dozen banks collapsed.<ref name="econdwp"/> With the labor force continuing to expand and employment falling sharply along with aggregate demand, unemployment rose by over 6% in 6 months.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}} But the government responded effectively: it tightened bank regulation and capital requirements, and encouraged foreign banks to take over weaker local ones.<ref name="econdwp"/> The economy soon recovered and, between 1996 and 1998, both output and employment grew rapidly and unemployment declined substantially.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}} However, at the beginning of 1999, the Brazilian currency underwent [[Samba effect|a strong depreciation]]. The Argentine economy contracted 4% in 1999, and unemployment increased again.{{sfn|Galiani|Gerchunoff|2002|p=32}}
Brazil has, since 2000, also became an important investor in Argentine assets and Spanish companies in particular have entered the Argentine market aggressively, with major investments in the petroleum and gas, telecommunications, banking, and retail sectors. Several bilateral agreements play an important role in promoting U.S. private investment. Argentina has an [[Overseas Private Investment Corporation|Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)]] agreement and an active program with the [[Export-Import Bank of the United States|U.S. Export-Import Bank]]. Under the 1994 U.S.-Argentina Bilateral Investment Treaty, U.S. investors enjoy national treatment in all sectors except shipbuilding, fishing, nuclear-power generation, and uranium production. The treaty allows for international arbitration of investment disputes. In October 2004, [[China]] announced it would invest US$20 billion in Argentina. An agreement provided for about Chinese investment in railway reconstruction (worth US$8 billion) and oil research (US$5 billion). The agreement failed to materialize.


Exports grew from $12 billion in 1991 to $27 billion in 2001, but many industries could not compete abroad, especially after Brazil's devaluation.<ref name="econdwp"/> The strong, fixed exchange rate turned the [[trade balance]] to a cumulative US$22 billion in [[trade deficit|deficit]]s between 1992 and 1999.<ref>{{cite web|title=Serie histórica de la Balanza Comercial Argentina. Años 1910–2010 |publisher=INDEC |url=http://www.indec.gov.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/19/balan1910-2010.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114104315/http://www.indec.gov.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/19/balan1910-2010.xls |archive-date=2011-11-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Unable to devalue, Argentina could only become more competitive if prices fell.<ref name="econdwp"/> Deflation came from recession, falling wages and rising unemployment.<ref name="econdwp"/> Interest rates remained high, with banks lending dollars at 25%.<ref name="econdwp"/>
Argentina attracted $3.4 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2006;<ref>[http://www.eclac.org/publicaciones/xml/3/29293/Anexo_estadistico.pdf ECLAC]</ref> as a percent of GDP, this FDI volume was below the Latin American average. Current Kirchner Administration policies and difficulty in enforcing contractual obligations had been blamed for this modest performance.{{Fact|date=August 2008}} A considerable improvement was recorded in 2007, however, when foreign nationals invested US$6.3 billion.<ref name=dsbb/>


The share of public spending in GDP increased from 27% in 1995 to 30% in 2000.<ref name="econdwp"/> Some poorer provinces had depended on state enterprises or on inefficient industries, such as sugar, which could not compete when international trade was opened.<ref name="econdwp"/> To quell social unrest, provincial governors padded their payrolls.<ref name="econdwp"/> The government had embarked on an old-age pension reform with costs reaching 3% of GDP in 2000, as it still had to pay pensioners but no longer received contributions.<ref name="econdwp"/>
== Production and other statistics ==
[[Image:Imagen102.jpg|thumb|200px|A collector's ''Justicialist'', [[Circa|c.]]1951. This was the first car wholly designed and manufactured in Argentina.]]
[[Image:Cosecha-ar-1992-2007.png|thumb|270px|Argentine harvests of grains and oilseeds, 1992-2007, in millions of metric tons.]]
[[Image:Central vista externa en gris.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Yacyretá]] hydroelectric dam in northeastern Argentina. Hydropower has helped Argentina lessen its dependency on fossil fuels.]]
[[Image:Autódromo Eusebio Marcilla.jpg|thumb|270px|View of the Argentine grain belt in the [[Province of Buenos Aires]].]]


==Economic crisis (1998–2002)==
'''Investment (domestic, physical):'''
{{main|1998–2002 Argentine great depression}}
US$64 billion, 22.7% of GDP (2007)<ref>[http://infobae.com/contenidos/369236-100896-0-La-actividad-econ%F3mica-se-aceler%F3-los-%FAltimos-meses InfoBAE]</ref>
[[Image:Buenos Aires - Manifestación contra el Corralito - 20020206-22.JPG|thumb|February 2002: depositors protest against frozen accounts for fear they might lose value, or worse.]]
Argentina fell into a deep recession in the second half of 1998, triggered and then compounded by a series of adverse external shocks, which included low prices for agricultural commodities,<ref name="dte"/> the appreciation of the US dollar, to which the peso was pegged at par,<ref name="dte">{{cite news|title=Down to earth|url=http://www.economist.com/node/321776|newspaper=The Economist|date=1999-05-13}}</ref> the [[1998 Russian financial crisis]], the [[Long-Term Capital Management|LTCM]] crisis and the [[Samba effect|devaluation of the Brazilian real]] in January 1999.<ref name="ieor"/> Argentina's sluggish GDP growth fuelled concerns about the sustainability of public debt.<ref name="ieor"/>


In December 1999, President [[Fernando de la Rúa]] took office, seeking assistance from the IMF shortly thereafter.<ref name=crscoe>{{cite web|last=Hornbeck |first=J. F. |title=The Argentine Financial Crisis: A Chronology of Events |url=https://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/8040.pdf |publisher=Congressional Research Service |date=2002-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122105526/http://fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/8040.pdf |archive-date=2012-01-22 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In March 2000, the IMF agreed to a three-year $7.2 billion stand-by arrangement with Argentina, conditioned on a strict fiscal adjustment and the assumption of 3.5% GDP growth in 2000 (actual growth was 0.5%).<ref name=crscoe/> In late 2000, Argentina rapidly lost credit in capital markets, as reflected in a sharp and sustained rise in [[Credit spread (bond)|spread]]s on Argentine bonds over [[United States Treasury security|U.S. Treasuries]].<ref name="ieor"/> In December, the de la Rua government announced a $40 billion multilateral assistance package organized by IMF.<ref name=crscoe/> The uneven implementation of fiscal adjustments and reforms, a worsening global macroeconomic environment, and political instability led to the complete loss of market access and intensified capital flight by the second quarter of 2001.<ref name="ieor"/> Argentine sovereign debt, held mostly in bonds, was massively [[put option|sold short]] and the government found itself unable to borrow or meet debt payments.<ref>{{cite news|first=Clifford |last=Krauss |title=Experts See Record Default In Argentine Debt Revision |work=The New York Times |date=2001-11-03 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/03/world/experts-see-record-default-in-argentine-debt-revision.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515063411/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/03/world/experts-see-record-default-in-argentine-debt-revision.html |archive-date=2013-05-15 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Household income or consumption by percentage share:'''
* ''lowest 10%:'' 1.2%
* ''highest 10%:'' 35.3%


In December 2001, a series of deposit runs began to destabilize the banking system, leading the Argentine authorities to impose a [[Corralito|partial withdrawal freeze]].<ref name="ieor"/> With Argentina no longer in compliance with the conditions of the expanded IMF-supported program, the IMF decided to suspend disbursements.<ref name="ieor"/> At the end of December, in a climate of severe political and social unrest, the country partially defaulted on its international obligations; in January 2002, it formally abandoned the currency convertibility regime.<ref name="ieor"/>
'''Motor vehicles:'''
8.86 million active registrations (one per 4.5 people)<ref>[http://www.dnrpa.gov.ar/bolesta1/boletin1020/pagina11.htm DNRPA]</ref>


The ensuing economic and political crisis was arguably the worst since the country's independence.<ref name="ucematgu"/> By the end of 2002, the economy had contracted by 20% since 1998.<ref name="ieor">{{cite web|title=The Role of the IMF in Argentina, 1991–2002 |url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/ieo/2003/arg/ |publisher=Independent Evaluation Office |date=July 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726002446/http://www.imf.org/External/NP/ieo/2003/arg/ |archive-date=2014-07-26 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Over the course of two years, output fell by more than 15%, the Argentine peso lost three-quarters of its value, and registered unemployment exceeded 25%.<ref name="ucematgu"/> Income poverty in Argentina grew from an already high 35.4% in October 2001 to a peak of 54.3% in October 2002.<ref>{{cite web|title=Evolución de la indigencia, la pobreza y la desocupación en el GBA desde 1988 en adelante |publisher=INDEC |url=http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/74/grafpobreza2.xls |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216065742/http://www.indec.mecon.ar/nuevaweb/cuadros/74/grafpobreza2.xls |archive-date=2012-02-16 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Agriculture - products (metric tons, 2007):'''
soy (47.6 M), maize (21.8 M), sugarcane (20.5 M), wheat (14.6 M), sunflower seeds (3.6 M), citrus fruit (3.2 M), sorghum (3.0 M), grapes (2.8 M), potatoes (2.6 M), barley (1.3 M), apples (1.2 M), green teas (1.1 M), rice (1.1 M).


Critics of the policy of [[economic liberalization]] pursued during the Menem Presidency argued that Argentina's economic woes were caused by [[neoliberalism]], which had been actively promoted by the U.S. government and the IMF under the [[Washington Consensus]].<ref name="ucematgu"/> Others have stressed that the main shortcoming of economic policy-making during the 1990s was that economic reform was not pursued with enough determination.<ref name="ucematgu"/> A 2004 report by the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office criticized the IMF's conduct prior to Argentina's economic collapse of 2001, saying the IMF had supported the country's fixed exchange rate for too long, and was too lenient towards fiscal deficits.<ref>{{cite news|title=Politics this week|url=http://www.economist.com/node/2975968|newspaper=The Economist|date=2004-07-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Benson|first=Todd|title=Report Looks Harshly at I.M.F.'s Role in Argentine Debt Crisis|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/30/business/report-looks-harshly-at-imf-s-role-in-argentine-debt-crisis.html|work=The New York Times|date=2004-07-30}}</ref>
''Meats'': beef, 3.2 M; poultry, 1.2 M, seafood 0.9 M.<ref name=mecon>[http://www.mecon.gov.ar/download/infoeco/actividad_ied.xls'1.20ISAC'!A Economy Ministry]</ref>


==Kirchnerism and relative growth (2003–2015)==
'''Industrial production:'''
[[File:Percent of total exports revenue, Argentina 1961-2006.png|thumb|In the mid-2000s, [[soybean]]s, [[soybean oil]] and [[Soybean meal|meal]] generated more than 20% of Argentina's export revenue.{{sfn|Richardson|2008|p=236}}]]
Value added (after taxes), US$52 billion; growth rate, 7.5% (2007).
In January 2002 [[Eduardo Duhalde]] was appointed president, the fifth in two weeks.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rohter|first=Larry|title=Man in the News; Peronist for the Present; Eduardo Alberto Duhalde|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/03/world/man-in-the-news-peronist-for-the-present-eduardo-alberto-duhalde.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|work=The New York Times|date=2002-01-03}}</ref> [[Roberto Lavagna]], who became Minister of the Economy in April 2002, was credited for the ensuing recovery, having stabilized prices and the exchange rate to head off hyperinflation.<ref>{{cite news|title=After Lavagna, an uncertain tilt towards populism|url=http://www.economist.com/node/5252924|newspaper=The Economist|date=2005-12-01}}</ref> After the default in 2001, growth reached over 6% a year for seven of the eight years to 2011.<ref name="attnyt">{{cite news|last=Mount|first=Ian|title=Argentina's Turnaround Tango|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/opinion/argentinas-turnaround-tango.html|work=The New York Times|date=2011-09-01}}</ref> This was in part due to a [[2000s commodities boom|commodity price boom]], and also because the government managed to keep the value of the currency low, boosting industrial exports.<ref name="attnyt"/>


=== Kirchner administration ===
''Distribution by sector (2007):'' food, beverages and tobacco, 20.4%; chemicals and pharmaceuticals, 15.6%; machinery and equipment, 14.1%; motor vehicles, 12.1%; steel and aluminum, 9.1%; refined petroleum, 8.8%; construction material, 4.6%; rubber and plastics, 4.1%; paper and cardboard, 3.2%; textiles and leather, 2.1%; publishing, furniture and other, 5.9%.<ref name=IMF/><ref name=actividad/>
{{see also|Presidency of Néstor Kirchner}}
[[Néstor Kirchner]] became president in May 2003. In the mid-2000s, export of unprocessed [[soybeans]], [[soybean oil]], and [[Soybean meal|meal]] generated more than 20% of Argentina's export revenue, triple the joint share of the traditional exports of beef and wheat.{{sfn|Richardson|2008|p=236}} Export taxes comprised 8% to 11% of the Kirchner government's total tax receipts, around two-thirds from soy exports.{{sfn|Richardson|2008|p=242}} Taxes on imports and exports increased government spending from 14% to 25% of GDP.<ref name="attnyt"/> However, the import and export taxes discouraged foreign investment, while high spending pushed inflation over 20%.<ref name="attnyt"/>


An attempt by the Kirchner administration to impose [[price controls]] in 2005 failed, as many items went out of stock and the mandatory prices were often ignored.<ref>{{cite web|title=Afirman que hay desabastecimiento de los productos con rebajas |publisher=Clarin.com |date=2005-12-09 |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2005/12/09/um/m-01104631.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904073547/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2005/12/09/um/m-01104631.htm |archive-date=2015-09-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Various sectors of the economy were re-nationalized, including the postal service (2003), the [[Ferrocarril San Martin|San Martín Railway line]] (2004), the water utility serving the [[Province of Buenos Aires]] (2006)<ref>{{cite web|title=Otro gesto de un Estado más activo en la economía |publisher=lanacion.com |date=2006-03-22 |url=http://www.lanacion.com.ar/790844-otro-gesto-de-un-estado-mas-activo-en-la-economia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150801083209/http://www.lanacion.com.ar/790844-otro-gesto-de-un-estado-mas-activo-en-la-economia |archive-date=2015-08-01 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Aerolíneas Argentinas]] (2009).<ref>{{cite web |title=The Nationalization of Aerolíneas Argentinas and Austral: Will the Government Set Them Straight? |publisher=Universia Knowledge@Wharton |date=2008-08-06 |url=http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=1563&language=english |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119141139/http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewfeature&id=1563&language=english |archive-date=2012-01-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Electricity:'''
* ''production:'' 107.2 [[TWh]] (2007)
* ''consumption:'' 103.0 [[TWh]] (2007)<ref name=mecon/>
* ''exports:'' 4.14 TWh (2005)
* ''imports:'' 8.02 TWh (2005)


In December 2005, Kirchner decided to liquidate the Argentine debt to the IMF in a single payment, without refinancing, for a total of $9.8 billion.<ref name="vzl"/> The payment was partly financed by a US$1.6 billion loan from Venezuela,.<ref name="vzl">{{cite web|first=Gustavo |last=Bazzan |title=Venezuela está dispuesta a comprar todos los bonos que le ofrezca Kirchner |publisher=Clarín.com |date=2006-01-10 |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2006/01/10/elpais/p-01501.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904073549/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2006/01/10/elpais/p-01501.htm |archive-date=2015-09-04 |url-status=dead }}</ref> As of mid-2008{{needs update|date=December 2021}} Venezuela holds an estimated US$6 billion in Argentine debt.<ref>{{cite web|title=Venezuela compra deuda argentina |publisher=CNNExpansion.com |date=2008-05-23 |url=http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia/2008/05/23/venezuela-compra-deuda-argentina |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002060504/http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia/2008/05/23/venezuela-compra-deuda-argentina |archive-date=2011-10-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2006, Argentina re-entered international debt markets selling US$500 million of its Bonar V five-year dollar denominated bonds, with a yield of 8.36%, mostly to foreign banks, and [[Moody's]] boosted Argentina's debt rating from B− to B.<ref>{{cite web |first=Antonio |last=Guerrero |title=Milestones : $500 Million Bond Issue Lures Investors |publisher=Global Finance |date=May 2006 |url=http://www.gfmag.com/archives/53-53-may-2006/1429-milestones--500-million-bond-issue-lures-investors.html#axzz1fz3UJgRS |access-date=December 8, 2011 |archive-date=May 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505101922/http://www.gfmag.com/archives/53-53-may-2006/1429-milestones--500-million-bond-issue-lures-investors.html#axzz1fz3UJgRS |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Electricity - production by source:'''
* ''natural gas:'' 52.3%
* ''other fossil fuel:'' 7.6%
* ''hydro:'' 32.4%
* ''nuclear:'' 6.5%
* ''other:'' 1.2% (2005)<ref>[http://www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/electricitydata.asp?COUNTRY_CODE=AR&Submit=Submit IEA]</ref>


In early 2007 the administration began interfering with inflation estimates.{{clarify|date=December 2021}}<ref>{{cite web |first=Annabella |last=Quiroga |title=Otra medición polémica del INDEC: dijo que la inflación de abril fue 0,3% |publisher=Clarin.com |date=2009-05-14 |url=http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/05/14/elpais/p-01917894.htm |access-date=May 16, 2009 |archive-date=October 8, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091008213329/http://www.clarin.com/diario/2009/05/14/elpais/p-01917894.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Petroleum:'''
* ''production:'' 682,000 barrels/day (2005)
* ''consumption:'' 532,000 barrels/day (2005)
* ''exports:'' 154,000 barrels/day (2005)
* ''proved reserves:'' 2.8 billion barrels (2004 est.)<ref>[http://data.un.org/Data.aspx?d=EDATA&f=cmID%3ACR%3BtrID%3A04#EDATA UN]</ref>


=== Fernández administration ===
'''Natural gas:'''
{{see also|Presidency of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner}}
* ''production:'' 50.9 billion m³ (2007)
[[File:Reinauguración de la planta Newsan.jpg|thumb|left|President [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] inaugurating a factory in [[Ushuaia]]. Firms like Blackberry, HP and Motorola have set up plants in [[Tierra del Fuego Province (Argentina)|Tierra del Fuego]], drawn by tax breaks.<ref>{{cite web|last=Lara Serrano|first=Rodrigo|title=Tierra Del Fuego Tech: A New Silicon Valley On South America's Southern Tip|url=http://www.worldcrunch.com/tierra-del-fuego-tech-new-silicon-valley-south-americas-southern-tip/3764|publisher=América Economía; Worldcrunch|date=2011-09-19|access-date=December 19, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522212725/http://www.worldcrunch.com/tierra-del-fuego-tech-new-silicon-valley-south-americas-southern-tip/3764|archive-date=May 22, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>]]
* ''consumption:'' 41.3 billion m³ (2007)<ref name=mecon/>
On December 10, 2007, [[Cristina Fernández de Kirchner]] became president. In 2008 the rural sector [[2008 Argentine government conflict with the agricultural sector|mobilized]] against a resolution that would have increased the tax rate on soybean exports from 35% to 44.1%. Ultimately, the new taxation regime was abandoned.{{sfn|Richardson|2008|p=250}} Official Argentine statistics are believed to have significantly underreported inflation since 2007, and independent economists publishing their own estimates of Argentine inflation have been threatened with fines and prosecution.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.economist.com/node/21548242 | newspaper=The Economist | title=Don't lie to me, Argentina | date=2012-02-25}}</ref>
* ''exports:'' 6.7 billion m³ (2005 est.)
* ''imports:'' 1.7 billion m³ (2005 est.)
* ''proved reserves:'' 768 billion m³ (2004)


In October 2008 President Fernández de Kirchner nationalized private pension funds worth almost $30 billion, ostensibly to protect the pensions against falling stock prices around the world, although critics said the government simply wanted to add the money to its budget.<ref name="atop">{{cite news|title=Argentina to take over pensions |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7682877.stm |work=BBC News |date=2008-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810023637/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7682877.stm |archive-date=2014-08-10 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Private pension funds, which were first licensed in 1994, suffered large losses during the 1998–2002 crisis and by 2008, the state subsidized 77% of the funds' beneficiaries.<ref name=clarinafjp>{{cite web|first=Ismael |last=Bermúdez |title=Analizan cambios profundos en el sistema de jubilación privada |publisher=Clarín.com |date=2008-10-20 |url=http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2008/10/20/elpais/p-01785008.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008230614/http://edant.clarin.com/diario/2008/10/20/elpais/p-01785008.htm |archive-date=2012-10-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
{|width="50%" style="margin: 1em auto 1 em auto"
|width=50% align="left"|
{|border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=2 style="background: #FEFEFE; border: thin solid orange; margin-right: 1em; line-height=1"
|+ ''Argentina: Historical Economic Growth Rates.''
! Period !! Average<br/>Growth<br/>Rate !! Per</br>Capita
|- align=center
|1900 to 1913|| 5.7% || 1.7%
|- align=center
|1913 to 1929|| 3.6% || 1.0%
|- align=center
|1929 to 1945|| 1.2% ||-0.6%
|- align=center
|1945 to 1974|| 4.0% || 2.2%
|- align=center
|1974 to 1990||-0.4% ||-1.8%
|- align=center
|1990 to 2007|| 4.0% || 2.8%
|}
|}
<ref name=SALA/><ref>[http://www.indec.mecon.gov.ar/ INDEC]</ref>


The [[late-2000s recession]] hit the country in 2009 with GDP growth slowing to 0.8%.<ref>{{cite news|title=Argentina Seen Reporting Strong But Slower Growth In Oct. |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=2010-12-21 |url=https://www.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101221-712914.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110102021533/http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20101221-712914.html |archive-date=January 2, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> High GDP growth resumed in 2010, and the economy expanded by 8.5%.<ref>{{cite web|title=El PBI subió 8,5% en 2010 y asegura pago récord de u$s 2.200 millones a inversores |publisher=El Cronista Comercial |date=2011-01-19 |url=http://www.cronista.com/economiapolitica/El-PBI-subio-85-en-2010-y-asegura-pago-record-de-us-2.200-millones-a-inversores-20110119-0069.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929104354/http://www.cronista.com/economiapolitica/El-PBI-subio-85-en-2010-y-asegura-pago-record-de-us-2.200-millones-a-inversores-20110119-0069.html |archive-date=2011-09-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2010, Economy Minister [[Amado Boudou]] prepared a [[Debt restructuring|debt swap]] package for the holders of over US$18 billion in bonds who did not participate in the 2005 [[Argentine debt restructuring]].<ref>{{cite news|first=Richard |last=Wray |title=Argentina to repay 2001 debt as Greece struggles to avoid default |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2010-04-16 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/apr/16/argentina-to-repay-2001-debt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215201758/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/apr/16/argentina-to-repay-2001-debt |archive-date=2012-02-15 |url-status=dead |location=London }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Comenzó el canje de la deuda en default |publisher=Diario Los Andes |date=2010-05-03 |url=http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2010/5/3/un-487506.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927033055/http://www.losandes.com.ar/notas/2010/5/3/un-487506.asp |archive-date=2011-09-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In late 2010, the largest new [[natural gas]] deposits in 35 years were discovered in [[Neuquén Province]].<ref>{{cite news|first1=Rodrigo |last1=Orihuela |first2=Heather |last2=Walsh |title=Repsol Makes Argentina's Largest Gas Find in 35 Years in Neuquen Province |publisher=Bloomberg |date=2010-12-07 |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-07/ypf-finds-4-5-trillion-cubic-feet-of-gas-in-argentina-s-neuquen-province.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008040337/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-07/ypf-finds-4-5-trillion-cubic-feet-of-gas-in-argentina-s-neuquen-province.html |archive-date=2011-10-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2011 was 7.3%.<ref>{{cite news|title=Argentina unemployment falls to 7.2 pct in 3rd qtr |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/argentina-economy-unemployment-idUSN1E7AK1D520111121 |work=Reuters |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621170243/http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/21/argentina-economy-unemployment-idUSN1E7AK1D520111121 |archive-date=2013-06-21 |date=2011-11-21 |url-status=live }}</ref>
'''Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:'''
Dec 2006: $31 billion <ref> [http://www.lanacion.com.ar/867076 La Nación] </ref>, March 2007: $35 billion<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/03/01/um/m-01372524.htm Clarin.com]</ref>, May 2007: $40 billion<ref>[http://www.clarin.com/diario/2007/05/21/um/m-01423305.htm Clarin.com]</ref>, March 2008: $50 billion.<ref>[http://infobae.com/contenidos/369033-100896-0-Las-reservas-superaron-los-us50-mil-millones InfoBAE]</ref>


In November 2011, the government laid a plan to cut utilities subsidies to higher income households.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weber |first=Jude |title=Argentina: taking the axe to subsidies |url=http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/11/16/argentina-taking-the-axe-to-subsidies/#axzz1gpURxFuz |newspaper=Financial Times |date=2011-11-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111207014216/http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2011/11/16/argentina-taking-the-axe-to-subsidies/ |archive-date=2011-12-07 |url-status=dead }}</ref> By mid-2011, credit was outpacing GDP by a wide margin, raising concerns that the economy was [[Overheating (economics)|overheating]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Some like it hot – Which emerging economies are at greatest risk of overheating?|url=http://www.economist.com/node/18895150|newspaper=The Economist|date=2011-06-30}}</ref> Argentina began a period of [[2012 fiscal austerity in Argentina|fiscal austerity]] in 2012.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cristina apela a la sintonía fina para disimular el ajuste |url=http://www.lavoz.com.ar/noticias/politica/cristina-apela-sintonia-fina-para-disimular-ajuste |newspaper=La Voz del Interior |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117011901/http://www.lavoz.com.ar/noticias/politica/cristina-apela-sintonia-fina-para-disimular-ajuste |archive-date=2013-01-17 |date=2012-03-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Szewach |first=Enrique |title=De la sintonía fina al ajuste desordenado |url=http://www.perfil.com/ediciones/2012/3/edicion_660/contenidos/noticia_0020.html |publisher=Perfil |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608191412/http://www.perfil.com/ediciones/2012/3/edicion_660/contenidos/noticia_0020.html |archive-date=2012-06-08 |date=2012-03-17 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In April 2012, the government announced plans to expropriate [[YPF]], despite the opposition of some energy experts, claiming that YPF's [[Spain|Spanish]] partner and major holder, [[Repsol YPF|Repsol]], had not done its duty as to provide the financial support for research and land exploitation, as well as being a bad administrator concerned only in sending profits to Spain and forsaking YPF's economic growth.<ref>{{cite news|title=Senators clear for debate YPF expropriation bill |url=http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/98538/senators-clear-for-debate-ypf-expropriation-bill |newspaper=Buenos Aires Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120509235131/http://www.buenosairesherald.com/article/98538/senators-clear-for-debate-ypf-expropriation-bill |archive-date=2012-05-09 |date=2012-04-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
'''Debt - external:'''
''Total (6/2008):''
US$127.3 billion (''private'', US$56.8 bil.; ''public'', US$70.5 bil.).<ref name=dsbb/>


Rising inflation and [[capital flight]] caused a rapid depletion of the country's dollar reserves, prompting the government to severely curtail access to dollars in June 2012.<ref name=blud>{{cite news|title=Argentina's economy: The blue dollar|newspaper=The Economist|url=http://www.economist.com/node/21556273|access-date=1 August 2014|date=2012-06-02}}</ref> The imposition of [[capital controls]], in turn, led to the emergence of a black market for dollars, known as the "dólar blue", at higher rates than the official exchange rate.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Ken Parks|title=Argentina's Peso Hits Record Lows on Black Market|url=https://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304603704579322750262415232|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=1 August 2014|date=2014-01-15}}</ref>
== References ==
<div class="reflist3" style="height: 300px; overflow: auto; padding: 3px">
{{reflist|3}}
</div>


By May 2014, private forecasts estimated annual inflation at 39.9%, one of the highest rates in the world.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Shane Romig|title=Argentina's Economy Contracted, Hurt by Inflation|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/argentinas-economy-contracted-hurt-by-inflation-1403553618|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=1 August 2014|date=2014-06-23}}</ref> In July 2014, a ruling from a New York court ordered the country to pay the remaining holders of the bonds defaulted in 2001, which by then were mostly American [[Vulture fund]]s, before it paid any of its exchange bondholders. The Argentine government refused, causing the country to default on its debt again.<ref name=def14>{{cite news|title=Argentina's debt saga: No movement|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/news/americas/21610296-argentina-has-defaulted-again-deal-its-creditors-not-out-question-no|access-date=1 August 2014|date=2014-08-02}}</ref>
<div class="references-small">

*Bulmer-Thomas, Victor. ''The Economic History of Latin America since Independence'' (New York: Cambridge University Press). 2003.
== Economic problems since 2016 ==
*[http://www.fondad.org/publications/argentina/contents.htm The Crisis that Was Not Prevented: Lessons for Argentina, the IMF, and Globalisation, Jan Joost Teunissen and Age Akkerman (eds.), Fondad, 2003, book, pdf)]
=== Presidency of Mauricio Macri ===
*[http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=96&row=2 Who Shot Argentina? The Finger Prints On the Smoking Gun Read ‘I.M.F.', Greg Palast, Guardian (London) Sunday, August 12, 2001,)]
{{main|Presidency of Mauricio Macri|Argentine monetary crisis}}
<references/>
On December 17, 2015, Macri lifted foreign exchange restrictions, leading to a 30% devaluation of the Peso, the largest since 2002.<ref>[http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/2015/12/17/argentina/1450359875_118731.html Rebossio, Alejandro (2015): «The end of the exchange rate: the Argentine peso depreciates 30% and threatens to further fuel inflation. The liberalization of the control of changes derives from a strong devaluation of the currency. Argentina releases control of capital.] 2015-12-17, ''[[El País]]''</ref> <ref>[http://www.cnnexpansion.com/economia/2015/12/17/argentina-abre-el-market-of-exchanges-and-your-currency- "The Argentine peso cuts losses after Devaluation: the currency fell 26&nbsp;The move is due to the elimination of exchange controls in the South American nation"]{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} 2015-12-17, [[CNN]]</ref><ref>[http://www.dineroenimagen.com/2015-12-17/66128 Argentine peso depreciates 30%, the worst drop in 13 years, by Reuters: «The Government of Mauricio Macri announced the lifting of exchange rate measures that limited market operations: the Argentine peso devalued 30%, the worst Fall in 13 Years»] 2015-12-17, Dinero en Imagen Website (Mexico).</ref><ref>[http://cincodias.com/cincodias/2015/12/16/empresas/1450300039_975945.html Millán, S. (2015): «Telefónica, BBVA, Santander, Abertis or Natural Gas: the Spanish companies on alert against the devaluation of the Argentine peso"] 2015-12-17, Cinco Días (Madrid) {{in lang|es}}</ref> In January 2016 it was devalued to 44 cents.<ref>[http://www.perfil.com/columnistas/Estanflacion-PRO-20160117-0016.html «Estanflación»] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727232746/http://www.perfil.com/columnistas/Estanflacion-PRO-20160117-0016.html |date=July 27, 2016 }} 2016-01-17, ''[[Perfil]]'' (Buenos Aires).</ref><ref>[http://www.cronica.com.ar/article/details/52705/el-consumo-seguira-en-baja-en-el-primer-semestre "In the first semester consumption is still low"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129051241/http://www.cronica.com.ar/article/details/52705/el-consumo-seguira-en-baja-en-el-primer-semestre |date=January 29, 2017 }} Article on the website of the television channel Crónica (Buenos Aires).</ref> Unemployment reached double digits as, with massive layoffs in the public and [[private sector]]s.<ref>[http://www.sinmordaza.com/noticia/342445-el-desemplelo-llegaria-a-los-dos-digitos-en-2016.html «In 2016, Unemployment would reach both digits»] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220162428/http://www.sinmordaza.com/noticia/342445-el-desemplelo-llegaria-a-los-dos-digitos-en-2016.html |date=December 20, 2016 }} Article published on the website Sin Mordaza (Buenos Aires) {{in lang|es}}</ref>
</div>

In April 2016, monthly inflation rose to 6.7%, the highest since 2002, according to the indicator, with annual inflation reaching 41.7%, one of the highest in the world.<ref>[http://www.omradio.com.ar/inflacion-mas-alta-desde-2002-rozo-el-7-por-cento/ "Highest inflation since 2002: 7 percent hit"]{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Article of May 25, 2016 on the website Om Radio (Buenos Aires) – Opens the audio of the radio without consulting the user {{in lang|es}}</ref> Another estimate said that inflation reached 37.4%, the fiscal deficit 4.8%, and predicted GDP would fall by 1.9%.<ref>[http://www.ambito.com/840481-bein-estima-para-2016-inflacion-del-374-deficit-del-48-y-caida-del-19-en-pbi Franco, Liliana (2016): Bein estimates for a 2016 inflation of 37.4] ''[[Ambito Financiero]]'' {{in lang|es}}</ref> In December 2015, the government announced the elimination of export restrictions for wheat, maize and meat, while reducing withholding taxes on soybeans to 30% at a fiscal cost of 23,604 million pesos.<ref>[http://www.eldestapeweb.com/retenciones-el-costo-fiscal-la-quita-dispuesta-macri-n13174 Retentions: the fiscal cost of the removal provided by Macri, by Darío Gannio] El Destape Website {{in lang|es}}</ref> This led to large price increases in staple products including oil, which increased by 51%, flour 110%, chicken 90%, noodles 78%, and a 50% increase in the price of meat in two weeks.<ref>[http://www.elsol.com.ar/nota/253094/el-pais/la-carne-subio-50-de-devaluacion-del-peso.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220112413/http://www.elsol.com.ar/nota/253094/el-pais/la-carne-subio-50-de-devaluacion-del-peso.html|date=December 20, 2016}} El Sol Website {{in lang|es}}</ref> Because of a 150-180% increase in feed prices, many pig producers were in crisis. It is estimated that in the province of Buenos Aires alone, 40 thousand pork producers would fail.<ref>http://www.0223.com.ar/note/2016-4-8-more-of-40-thousand-pig-producers-are-in-crisis-for-the-increase-of-foods{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

One of Macri's promises during the 2015 campaign was the elimination of [[Income tax]] for workers, saying "During my government workers will not pay tax on profits".<ref>{{Cite news|title = Macri Video|url = http://mauriciomacri.com.ar/spots/trabajadores-sin-impuesto-a-las-ganancias|newspaper = Mauricio Macri Official Site|date = October 2015|access-date = 2015-12-31|archive-date = March 10, 2016|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160310101034/http://mauriciomacri.com.ar/spots/trabajadores-sin-impuesto-a-las-ganancias|url-status = dead}}</ref> The [[Ministry of Economy and Public Finances (Argentina)|Minister of the Economy and Public Finances]], [[Alfonso Prat-Gay]] said that the draft amendments to the income tax would be sent to [[Congress of Argentina|Congress]] for treatment on March 1, 2016.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Macri dio marcha atrás con el aguinaldo
|url = http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/elpais/1-287730-2015-12-07.html|newspaper = Pagina 12|date = 7 December 2015|access-date = 2015-12-31}}</ref> {{As of |December 2017}}, Macri had not fulfilled his promise, and it was not in the government's plan to eliminate the Income tax in the future either.<ref>Martín Slipczuk (10 December 2017). [http://chequeado.com/ultimas-noticias/macri-los-trabajadores-no-van-a-pagar-impuesto-a-las-ganancias-2017/ "Macri: 'Los trabajadores no van a pagar impuesto a las Ganancias{{'"}}] [Macri: Workers are not going to pay income tax]. Chequeado.com {{in lang|es}}</ref>

An extremely high [[inflation rate]] was strangling the urban and rural working population: decreasing from the astounding 40% of 2016, it was expected to be 17% by 2018.<ref name=Euromoney>[https://www.euromoney.com/article/b15mnhpb1p12hw/macris-election-success-is-no-cure-all-for-argentinas-structural-issues Macri’s election success is no cure-all for Argentina’s structural issues] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215221346/https://www.euromoney.com/article/b15mnhpb1p12hw/macris-election-success-is-no-cure-all-for-argentinas-structural-issues |date=December 15, 2017 }} November 17, 2017, [[Euromoney]]</ref> Other vulnerabilities include an unemployment rate close to 9% (expected to be in two digits in the next two years), as well as the sharp rise in the current-account deficit around 3% to 4% of GDP in 2017–2018 thanks to an over-valued currency.<ref name=Euromoney/> Forecasts from the IMF show GDP growth in 2018 decelerating to 2.5% from 2.75%, and clearly any halting of the cyclical upswing in the global economy would set the country back.<ref name=Euromoney/>

=== Presidency of Alberto Fernández ===
{{see also|Presidency of Alberto Fernández}}
In 2019 the [[inflation]] was considered the highest in 28 years according to the index, ascending to 53.8%. To the cause of the quarantine in 2020, in April, 143,000 SMEs will not be able to pay salaries and fixed expenses for the month, even with government assistance, so they will have to borrow or increase their capital contribution, and approximately 35,000 companies consider closing their business. even so, the president remains firm in his decision to maintain the state of total quarantine. Despite cuts in the payment chain, some project 180 total days and calculate 5% of companies that fell in May. In 2023, the rate of inflation in Argentina surpassed 100% for the first time since the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite news |author-link=Laura Gozzi |date=2023-03-15 |title=Argentina inflation soars past 100% mark |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-64960385 |access-date=2023-03-15}}</ref>

=== Presidency of Javier Milei ===
{{see also|Presidency of Javier Milei}}
On 10 December 2023, [[Javier Milei]], a [[right-wing libertarian]], was sworn in as new president of Argentina.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-12-11 |title=Javier Milei: New president tells Argentina 'shock treatment' looms |language=en-GB |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67678276 |access-date=2023-12-11}}</ref> During the electoral campaign, inflation was at over 100 percent.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-10-04 |title='They are voting for the executioner': Argentina's man with a plan so radical over 100 economists have trashed it |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-05/argentina-is-dealing-with-100-per-cent-inflation-heres-how/102930048 |access-date=2024-01-23 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> At the time of Milei's inauguration in December 2023, Argentina’s economy was suffering 143 percent annual inflation, the currency had plunged and four out of 10 Argentines were in poverty.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-12-10 |title=Argentina's newly sworn-in President Milei warns of shock adjustment to economy |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/argentinas-newly-sworn-in-president-milei-warns-of-shock-adjustment-to-economy |access-date=2023-12-11 |website=PBS NewsHour |language=en-us}}</ref>

In January 2024, Argentina’s poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Herald |first1=Buenos Aires |title=Poverty in Argentina hits 57%, highest number in 20 years, report says |url=https://buenosairesherald.com/society/poverty-in-argentina-hits-57-highest-number-in-20-years-report-says |work=Buenos Aires Herald |date=18 February 2024}}</ref>

==Argentine paradox==
[[File:GDP per capita of Argentina, percent of US (1900-2008).png|thumb|Argentina's GDP per capita (in 1990 international [[Geary–Khamis dollar]]s) as a percentage of the US's, 1900–2008]]
The Nobel prize-winning economist [[Simon Kuznets]] is said to have remarked that there were four types of countries: the developed, the underdeveloped, Japan, and Argentina.<ref name=saiegh>{{cite web|last=Saiegh|first=Sebastian M.|title=The Rise of Argentina's Economic Prosperity: An Institutional Analysis|url=https://files.nyu.edu/sms267/public/tesis.pdf|publisher=Stanford University|access-date=2014-02-18|date=June 1996|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223164842/https://files.nyu.edu/sms267/public/tesis.pdf|archive-date=February 23, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to [[Guido di Tella|Di Tella]] and [[Manuel Zymelman|Zymelman]] (1967), the main difference between Argentina and other [[Settler society|settler societies]] such as Australia and Canada was its failure to seek adequate alternatives to compensate for the end of geographical expansion with the definitive closing of the frontier.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}} [[Carl E. Solberg|Solberg]] (1985) noted the differences between the [[land distribution]] in Canada, which led to a rising number of small farmers, and the small number of landowners each with large areas of land in Argentina.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}}

Duncan and Fogarty (1984) argued that the key difference lies in the contrast between the stable, flexible government of Australia and the poor governance of Argentina.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}} According to [[Desmond Christopher Martin Platt|Platt]] and Di Tella (1985) the [[political tradition]] and immigration from different regions were the key factors, while [[Carlos Federico Díaz Alejandro|Díaz Alejandro]] (1985) suggested that a restrictive [[immigration policy]], similar to Australia's, would have increased productivity encouraged by the relative [[scarcity of labor]].{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}}

[[Alan M. Taylor|Taylor]] (1992) pointed out that the relatively high [[dependency ratio]] and the slow [[demographic transition]] in Argentina led to a reliance on foreign capital to offset the resulting low savings rate.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}} From the 1930s onwards, the accumulation of capital was hampered by the relatively high prices of (mostly imported) capital goods, which was caused by the industrial policy of import substitution, in contrast with the [[export-led growth]] favored by Canada.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}} Other distorting factors behind the high relative prices of capital goods include the multiple exchange rates, the black market for foreign currencies, the depreciation of the national currency and high customs tariffs.{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}} This resulted in a lower [[capital intensity]], which led to lower rates of [[labor productivity]].{{sfn|Prados de la Escosura|Sanz-Villarroya|2004|p=5}}


==See also==
==See also==
{{Argentina sidebar}}
{{portal|Argentina|Economics}}
* [[British investment in Argentina]]
* [[History of agriculture in Argentina]]
* [[Latin American debt crisis]]
* [[Economic history of Latin America]]


==Notes==
* [[Agriculture of Argentina]]
{{Reflist|30em}}
* [[Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002)]]

* [[Argentine Currency Board]]
==References==
* [[Buenos Aires Stock Exchange]]
{{refbegin|2}}
* [[Economy of South America]]
* {{citation |title=A new economic history of Argentina |last1=Della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn= 978-0521822473|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1PxjcoYAohcC }}
* [[Forestry in Argentina]]
* {{citation|last=Bethell|first=Leslie|author-link=Leslie Bethell|title=The Cambridge History of Latin America|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cbhOISlOv3MC|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0521266529}}
* [[Historical exchange rates of Argentine currency]]
* {{citation|last=Rock|first=David|title=Argentina, 1516–1987: from Spanish colonization to Alfonsín|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FHTczGi4sv4C|publisher=University of California Press|year=1987|isbn=978-0520061781}}
* [http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/MWLS_ArgentinaRecovery_Formatted_PDF2.pdf Argentina's Economic Recovery: Policy Choices and Implications] from the [[Center for Economic and Policy Research]]
* {{citation |title=The Economic History of Latin America since Independence |last=Bulmer-Thomas |first=Victor |author-link=Victor Bulmer-Thomas |year=2003 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uMMc1sHOYaMC|isbn=978-0521532747 }}
* Di Tella, Guido. ''The political economy of Argentina, 1946–83'' (U of Pittsburgh Press, 1989)
* Díaz-Alejandro, Carlos Federico. ''Essays on the economic history of the Argentine Republic'' (Yale University Press, 1970)
* {{citation|title=The Argentine economy |last= Ferrer |first=Aldo |author-link=Aldo Ferrer |year=1967 |publisher=University of California Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EED17gtJ4cMC }}
* {{Citation|first1=Rick |last1=Lovering |first2=Douglas |last2=Southgate |title=An Interpretation of Argentine Economic and Political History: Dutch Disease on the Pampas |year=2007 |publisher=The Ohio State University |hdl=1811/28514 |type=Thesis }}
* {{Citation|first1=Sebastián |last1=Galiani |first2=Pablo |last2=Gerchunoff |title=A study of the evolution the Argentine labor market |date=November 2002 |url=http://cdi.mecon.gov.ar/biblio/docelec/udesa/WP56.pdf |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/63mE4l8K6?url=http://cdi.mecon.gov.ar/biblio/docelec/udesa/WP56.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-08 |url-status=dead }}
* Paolera, Gerardo Della, and Alan M. Taylor. ''A New Economic History of Argentina'' (Cambridge University Press, 2003)
* {{Citation|last=Rocchi |first=Fernando |title=Chimneys in the desert: industrialization in Argentina during the export boom years, 1870–1930 |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HVhRKS1uAjYC |isbn=978-0804767453 }}
* {{citation|last=Richardson |first=Neal P. |title=Export-Oriented Populism: Commodities and Coalitions in Argentina |url=http://npr.berkeley.edu/Richardson_eop.pdf |work=Studies in Comparative International Development (SCID), 2009, Volume 44, Number 3 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426082608/http://npr.berkeley.edu/Richardson_eop.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 |date=2008-12-19 |url-status=dead }}
* {{citation|last1=Della Paolera |first1=Gerardo |last2=Taylor |first2=Alan M. |title=Gaucho Banking Redux |url=http://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pdf/documents/seminaire8-01-03.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120406104338/http://www.ofce.sciences-po.fr/pdf/documents/seminaire8-01-03.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-06 |date=November 2002 |url-status=dead }}
* Pineda, Yovanna. ''Industrial Development in a Frontier Economy: The Industrialization of Argentina, 1890–1930'' (Stanford University Press, 2009)
* {{citation|last1=Prados de la Escosura |first1=Leandro |last2=Sanz-Villarroya |first2=Isabel |title=Institutional Instability And Growth In Argentina: A Long-Run View |url=http://docubib.uc3m.es/WORKINGPAPERS/WH/wh046705.pdf |publisher=IDEAS |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626022951/http://docubib.uc3m.es/WORKINGPAPERS/WH/wh046705.pdf |archive-date=2012-06-26 |date=December 2004 |url-status=dead }}
* {{Citation|last=Sánchez-Alonso |first=Blanca |title=Making sense of immigration policy: Argentina, 1870–1930 |publisher=IDEAS: Economics and Finance Research |date=November 2010 |url=http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/10016/9737/1/wp_10_14.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316212358/http://e-archivo.uc3m.es/bitstream/10016/9737/1/wp_10_14.pdf |archive-date=2012-03-16 |url-status=dead }}
* Sanchez-Alonso, Blanca. "Making sense of immigration policy: Argentina, 1870–1930." ''Economic History Review'' (2013) 66#2 601–627.
* Smith, Peter H. ''Politics and beef in Argentina. Patterns of conflict and change.'' (1969).
* {{citation|last=Smith|first=William C.|title=Authoritarianism and the Crisis of the Argentine Political Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fFxjhApECCcC|publisher=Stanford University Press|year=1991|isbn=978-0804719612}}

===In Spanish===
* {{citation|last = Abad de Santillán| first = Diego| author-link = Diego Abad de Santillán| title = Historia Argentina|trans-title=History of Argentina| year= 1965| publisher = TEA (Tipográfica Editora Argentina)| location = Argentina| language= es}}
* {{citation|title= Historia de la Argentina, Tomo I&II|last= Galasso|first= Norberto|author-link= Norberto Galasso|year= 2011|publisher= Colihue|location= Buenos Aires|isbn= 978-9505634781}}
* {{citation|author=Pablo Gerchunoff |title=''Peronist Economic Policies, 1946–1955'' |publisher=di Tella y Dornbusch |year=1989}}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* Amaral, Samuel, ''The Rise of Capitalism on the Pampas: The Estancias of Buenos Aires, 1785–1870''. New York: Cambridge University Press 1998.
* Barbero, Inés and Fernando Rocchi, ''A New Economic History of Argentina''
* {{cite book |title=Essays on the economic history of the Argentine Republic |last=Díaz Alejandro |first=Carlos Federico |year=1970 |publisher=Yale University Press }}
* Cantamutto, Francisco J., and Daniel Ozarow. "Serial payers, serial losers? The political economy of Argentina’s public debt." ''Economy and society'' 45.1 (2016): 123–147.
* {{cite book |title=Remaking the Argentine economy |last=De la Balze |first=Felipe A. M. |year=1995 |publisher=Council on Foreign Relations }}
* Di Tella, Guido. ''Political Economy of Argentina, 1880–1946'' (Springer, 2016).
* Elena, Eduardo. "Spinsters, Gamblers, and Friedrich Engels: The Social Worlds of Money and Expansionism in Argentina, 1860s–1900s." ''Hispanic American Historical Review'' 102.1 (2022): 61–94.
* Ford, A.G. ''The Gold Standard, 1880–1914: Britain and Argentina'' (1962) [https://www.questia.com/library/619773/the-gold-standard-1880-1914-britain-and-argentina online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803045318/https://www.questia.com/library/619773/the-gold-standard-1880-1914-britain-and-argentina |date=August 3, 2017 }}
* [http://www.joefrancis.info/pdfs/Francis_PhD_diss.pdf Francis, Joseph. 2013. "The Terms of Trade and the Rise of Argentina in the Long Nineteenth Century." PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.]
* Gómez, Georgina M. ''Argentina's parallel currency: The economy of the poor'' (Routledge, 2015).
* Horowitz, Joel. "Economic history and the politics of culture in twentieth-century Argentina." (2013): 193–203. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/43670083 online]
* Katz, Jorge and Bernardo Kosacoff, "Import-Substituting Industrialization in Argentina, 1940–1980," in ''An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Latin America'' vol. 3.
* Lewis, Colin M. ''British Railways in Argentina, 1857–1914: A Case of Foreign Investment''. London: Athlone 1983.
* Lewis, Daniel. "Internal and External Convergence: The Collapse of Argentine Grain Farming," in ''Latin America in the 1940s'', [[David Rock (historian)|David Rock]], ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1994, pp.&nbsp;209–223.
* Lewis, Paul H. ''The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism''. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1990.
* Lloyd, A. L. "Meat from Argentina: The History of a National Industry," ''History Today'' (1951) 1#4 pp.&nbsp;30–38.
* Peralta-Ramos, Monica. ''The political economy of Argentina: power and class since 1930'' (Routledge, 2019).
* Rocchi, Fernando. ''Chimneys in the Desert: The Industrialization of Argentina in the Export Boom Years,1870–1930''. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2006.
* {{cite book |title=The Prairies and the Pampas: Agrarian Policy in Canada and Argentina, 1880–1930 |last=Solberg |first=Carl E. |year=1987 |publisher=Stanford Univ Pr |url=https://www.questia.com/read/24519196/the-prairies-and-the-pampas-agrarian-policy-in-canada |access-date=August 26, 2017 |archive-date=August 3, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803085641/https://www.questia.com/read/24519196/the-prairies-and-the-pampas-agrarian-policy-in-canada |url-status=dead }}
* Taylor, Alan M. "The Argentina Paradox: microexplanations and macropuzzles." ''Latin American economic review'' 27.1 (2018): 1–17. [https://latinaer.springeropen.com/articles/10.1007/s40503-017-0051-8 online]
* Thomas, Carolyn, and Nicolás Cachanosky. "Argentina's post-2001 economy and the 2014 default." ''Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance'' 60 (2016): 70–80.
{{div col end|2}}

==External links==
* {{cite web|author=Ana I. Eiras, Brett D. Schaefer |year=2001|title=Argentina's Economic Crisis: An 'Absence of Capitalism' |url=http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2001/pdf/bg1432.pdf |publisher=The Heritage Foundation|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426035658/http://thf_media.s3.amazonaws.com/2001/pdf/bg1432.pdf |archive-date=2012-04-26 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite journal|author=Edward L. Glaeser, Rafael Di Tella, Lucas Llach|year=2018|url=https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/LAER%20Introduction%20to%20Argentine%20Exceptionalism_3c49e7ee-4f31-49a0-ba21-6e2b726cd7c5.pdf<!--https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=54385-->|url-status=live|title=Introduction to Argentine Exceptionalism|journal=Latin American Economic Review|volume=27|issue=1|pages=1–22|doi=10.1007/s40503-017-0055-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240119001148/https://www.hbs.edu/ris/Publication%20Files/LAER%20Introduction%20to%20Argentine%20Exceptionalism_3c49e7ee-4f31-49a0-ba21-6e2b726cd7c5.pdf|archive-date=19 January 2024|access-date=23 January 2024|via=Harvard Business School}}
* {{cite web|author=Mark Allen|date=January 2003|title=The Crisis that Was Not Prevented: Lessons for Argentina, the IMF, and Globalisation |publisher=Fondad |url=http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111208235151/http://www.fondad.org/product_books/pdf_download/9/Fondad-Argentina-BookComplete.pdf |archive-date=2011-12-08 |url-status=dead }}
* {{cite web|author=[[Miguel Braun]] |year=2006|title=The Political Economy of Debt in Argentina, or Why History Repeats Itself |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDEBTDEPT/Resources/20061012_03.pdf |publisher=World Bank|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904073548/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTDEBTDEPT/Resources/20061012_03.pdf |archive-date=2015-09-04 |url-status=dead }}


{{Template group
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[[Category:Economy of Argentina| ]]
{{Economy of Argentina}}
{{Argentina topics}}
[[Category:WTO member economies]]
{{Economic history}}


[[ca:Economia de l'Argentina]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Economic History Of Argentina}}
[[Category:Economic history of Argentina| ]]
[[de:Wirtschaft Argentiniens]]
[[es:Economía de Argentina]]
[[fa:اقتصاد آرژانتین]]
[[fr:Économie de l'Argentine]]
[[gl:Economía de Arxentina]]
[[io:Ekonomio di Arjentinia]]
[[lt:Argentinos ekonomika]]
[[oc:Economia d'Argentina]]
[[pt:Economia da Argentina]]
[[ro:Economia Argentinei]]
[[sr:Привреда Аргентине]]
[[vi:Kinh tế Argentina]]

Latest revision as of 21:59, 8 November 2024

Historical development of GDP per capita[1]
Argentina Inflation
  Year over Year inflation
  M2 money supply increases Year over Year
  Month over Month inflation
USD / Argentina Currency Exchange Rates
Evolution of GDP growth

The economic history of Argentina is one of the most studied, owing to the "Argentine paradox". As a country, it had achieved advanced development in the early 20th century but experienced a reversal relative to other developed economies, which inspired an enormous wealth of literature and diverse analysis on the causes of this relative decline.[2] Since independence from Spain in 1816, the country has defaulted on its debt nine times. Inflation has often risen to the double digits, even as high as 5,000%, resulting in several large currency devaluations.

Argentina possesses definite comparative advantages in agriculture because the country is endowed with a vast amount of highly fertile land.[3] Between 1860 and 1930, exploitation of the rich land of the pampas strongly pushed economic growth.[4] During the first three decades of the 20th century, Argentina outgrew Canada and Australia in population, total income, and per capita income.[4] By 1913, Argentina was among the world's ten wealthiest states per capita.[5]

Beginning in the 1930s, the Argentine economy deteriorated notably.[4] The single most important factor in this decline has been political instability since 1930 when a military junta took power, ending seven decades of civilian constitutional government.[6] In macroeconomic terms, Argentina was one of the most stable and conservative countries until the Great Depression, after which it turned into one of the most unstable.[7] Despite this, up until 1962, the Argentine per capita GDP was higher than that of Austria, Italy, Japan, and of its former colonial master, Spain.[8][better source needed] Successive governments from the 1930s to the 1970s pursued a strategy of import substitution to achieve industrial self-sufficiency, but the government's encouragement of industrial growth diverted investment from agricultural production, which fell dramatically.[9]

The era of import substitution ended in 1976, but at the same time growing government spending, large wage increases, and inefficient production created a chronic inflation that rose through the 1980s.[9] The measures enacted during the last dictatorship also contributed to the huge foreign debt by the late 1980s which became equivalent to three-fourths of the GNP.[9]

In the early 1990s, the government reined in inflation by making the peso equal in value to the U.S. dollar and privatized numerous state-run companies using part of the proceeds to reduce the national debt.[9] However, a sustained recession at the turn of the 21st century culminated in a default, and the government again devalued the peso.[9] By 2005 the economy had recovered,[9] but the country again defaulted in 2014 and 2020.[10][11]

Colonial economy

[edit]
An 1868 photo of a gaucho. Gauchos helped livestock ranching extend through much of Argentina.
Field wagons ("carretas") were introduced by the Spaniards at the end of the 16th century as transport for passengers and goods.

During the colonial period, present-day Argentina offered fewer economic advantages compared to other parts of the Spanish Empire, such as Mexico or Peru, which caused it to assume a peripheral position within the Spanish colonial economy.[12] It lacked deposits of gold or other precious metals[13] and did not have established native civilizations to subject to the encomienda.

Only two-thirds of its present territory were occupied during the colonial period, while the remaining third consisted of the Patagonian Plateau which remains sparsely populated to this day.[13] The agricultural and livestock sector's output was principally consumed by the producers themselves and by the small local market. They only became associated with foreign trade towards the end of the 18th century.[12]

The period between the 16th and the end of the 18th century was characterized by the existence of self-sufficient regional economies separated by considerable distances, a lack of road, maritime or river communications, and the hazards and hardship of land transport.[14] By the end of the 18th century, a significant national economy came into being as Argentina developed a market in which reciprocal flows of capital, labor, and goods could take place on a significant scale between its different regions, which it had hitherto lacked.[14]

In the colonial period, the territories that now make up Argentina were subject, like the rest of the Spanish territories in the Americas, to legal restrictions regarding how and with whom trade could be conducted. Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, trade directly through the port of Buenos Aires, rather than via the official system of fleets out of the port of Lima in modern Perú, was forbidden except through special permission from the Crown.[15] In practice, however, this did not mean that the colonial economy of what is now Argentina was closed to trade.

In addition to trade with Brazil and Guinea, which was legalized in the early seventeenth century, colonial Buenos Aires also conducted trade directly with Spain and other European powers through the so-called navíos de registro— ships with royal permission to sail outside the official fleet or Spanish treasure fleet system to conduct specific services, such as transport soldiers. Dutch and Basque merchants in particular played an important role, in partnership, in managing the system of navíos de registro to conduct trans-Atlantic trade with Buenos Aires. Even more important than the navíos was a system of contraband trade into which the navíos were inserted. Thus, in the second half of the seventeenth century an estimated 200 ships entered the port of Buenos Aires without any permission at all, as opposed to 34 navíos de registro.[16] On top of this system of largely technically illegal transatlantic trade was the situado system of funding from the royal treasury in Potosí, in Upper Peru, which supplied the military garrison in Buenos Aires. In practice, the situado funded, through a system of credit, a local economy in Buenos Aires which was itself inserted into the contraband economy.[17]

Argentinian historian Zacarías Moutoukias argues that this system of trade, in which Buenos Aires was linked with the mining economy of the Andes through the situado and to cross-Atlantic trade through contraband and the navíos de registro, created an integrated political and commercial elite in Buenos Aires, made up of military officers, Crown officials and local merchants, and a political economy in which “corruption”— that is, the violation of royal laws regarding trade— was not an aberration but rather a defining characteristic.  For Moutoukias, “corruption” in this context was simply “the violation of a fixed set of norms that limited the integration of the crown’s representatives with the local oligarchy”— a violation that was tacitly tolerated by the Crown because it was lucrative.[18]

Historians like Milcíades Peña consider this historical period of the Americas as pre-capitalist, as most production of the coastal cities was destined to overseas markets.[19] Rodolfo Puiggrós consider it instead a feudalist society, based on work relations such as the encomienda or slavery.[19] Norberto Galasso and Enrique Rivera consider that it was neither capitalist nor feudalist, but a hybrid system result of the interaction of the Spanish civilization, on the transition from feudalism to capitalism, and the natives, still living in prehistory.[19]

The Argentine territories, held back by their closed economies, the lack of any activity closely linked to foreign trade, and the scant amounts of labor and capital they consequently received, fell far behind those of other areas of the colonial world that participated in foreign trade.[20] Only activities associated with a dynamic exporting centre enjoyed some degree of prosperity, as occurred in Tucuman, where cloth was manufactured, and in Córdoba and the Litoral, where livestock was raised to supply the mines of Upper Peru.[20]

This trade was legally limited to Spain: the Spanish Crown enforced a monopsony which limited supplies and enabled Spanish merchants to mark up prices and increase profits.[21] British and Portuguese merchants broke this monopsony by resorting to contraband trade.[22]

Other scholars reject the label of “feudal” to describe Argentine economy and society during the colonial period. Historian Jeremy Adelman, for example, describes an agrarian economy in the Argentinian interior in which both wage labor and production for the market were quite common during the colonial period. In the seventeenth century, this included the development of textile workshops (obrajes), the raising of mules for transport and the hunting of feral cattle herds to produce meat, leather and tallow— all of these economic activities supplied the mining economy of Potosí in the Andes. In the 18th century, the depletion of feral cattle herds led to the development of settled livestock agriculture in the Argentine Littoral as well as in inland regions. The relative lack of extra-economic coercion due to ample access to land on the agrarian frontier, the prevalence of wage labor, the variety of types of land tenure (ownership, tenancy, a spectrum of usufruct rights) as well as a lack of a fixed and hegemonic landed elite all lead Adelman to reject the label of “feudalism” to describe the agrarian economy of what now makes up Argentina during the colonial period.[23]

The British desire to trade with South America grew during the Industrial Revolution and the loss of their 13 colonies in North America during the American Revolution. To achieve their economic objectives, Britain initially launched the British invasions of the Río de la Plata to conquer key cities in Spanish America but they were defeated by the local forces of what is now Argentina and Uruguay not once but twice without the help of Spain.[24] When they allied to Spain during the Napoleonic Wars, they requested the Spanish authorities to open commerce to Britain in return.[25]

Lassoing cattle in the pampas, 1794 lithography by Fernando Brambilla.

The first Argentine historians, such as Bartolomé Mitre, attributed the free trade to The Representation of the Hacendados economic report by Mariano Moreno, but is currently considered the result of a general negotiation between Britain and Spain, as reflected in the Apodaca-Canning treaty of 1809.[26] The actions of Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in Buenos Aires reflected similar outcomes emanating from the other Spanish cities of South America.[26]

Compared to other parts of Latin America, slavery played a much lesser role in the development of the Argentine economy, mostly because of the absence of gold mines and sugar plantations, which would have demanded huge numbers of slave workers.[27] Colonial Brazil, for example, imported as many as 2.5 million Africans in the 18th century.[27] By contrast, an estimated 100,000 African slaves arrived at the port of Buenos Aires in the 17th and 18th centuries, and many were destined for Paraguay, Chile and Bolivia.[27]

The colonial livestock ranches were established toward the middle of the 18th century.[13] The pace of growth in the region increased dramatically with the establishment in 1776 of the new Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata with Buenos Aires as its capital, and increased legal trading allowed by the Free Trade Act of 1778,[28] which allowed for "free and protected" trade between Spain and its colonies.[29] This trade system disintegrated during the Napoleonic era, and contraband became common again.[29]

Post-independence transition

[edit]

During the early post-independence period, an important share of Argentina's exports came from cattle and sheep production.[30] The livestock-raising economy was based upon the abundance of fertile land in the littoral provinces.[30] Cropping apparently lacked comparative advantage compared to livestock grazing.[30]

Exports rose 4% to 5% annually from 1810 to 1850 and 7% to 8% from 1850 to 1870.[31] This growth was achieved through the extension of the frontier and greater efficiency in livestock production.[32]

As a result of the diversification in markets and products, Argentina managed to escape the trap of a single-staple economy and sustained its economic growth over six decades.[32] The combined effect of declining prices of textiles and rising prices of livestock products produced dramatic improvements in the terms of trade, which rose 377% between 1810 and 1825 in local prices.[30] Several governors waged campaigns against the natives to increase the available lands, from Juan Manuel de Rosas to Julio Argentino Roca.

Most poor gauchos joined forces with the most powerful caudillos in the vicinity. As the Federalist Party, they opposed the policies implemented by Buenos Aires, and waged the Argentine Civil Wars.[33]

Buenos Aires marketplace, 1810s
Impression of a Buenos Aires slaughterhouse by Charles Pellegrini, 1829.

1810–1829

[edit]

After Argentina became independent in 1810, an era in which commerce was controlled by a small group of peninsular merchants came to an end.[30] The Primera Junta, the first government established after the 1810 May Revolution, undertook a protectionist policy until their fall from government.

The First Triumvirate (1811–1812), influenced by Bernardino Rivadavia and Manuel García, instead promoted unrestricted trade with Britain.[34] The Second Triumvirate (1812–1814) and José Gervasio Artigas (who controlled the Liga Federal during the 1815–1820 period) sought to restore the initial protectionist policy, but the Supreme Director restored free trade once more.[35] Thus, the economy of the Río de la Plata became one of the most open economies in the world.[30]

Between 1812 and 1816 divisions developed between a Unitarist faction centred on Buenos Aires and a Federalist faction in the provinces, which eventually led to a series of civil wars that ended with the conquest of Buenos Aires by Federalist caudillos at the Battle of Cepeda in 1820.[36]

Each province had its own money, and the same money had a different value from one province and another, and even among cities in the same province.[37]

The government of Martín Rodríguez (1820–1824) and his minister Bernardino Rivadavia, then Las Heras and finally Rivadavia himself as the first president of Argentina from 1826 to 1827, developed an economic plan deemed as "The happy experience". This plan increased the British influence in the national politics. It was based on five main pillars: complete free trade and no protectionist policies against British imports, finance with a central bank managed by British investors, absolute control of the port of Buenos Aires as the sole source of income from national customs, British exploitation of the national natural resources, and a Unitarist national organization centred in Buenos Aires.[38] After Rivadavia resigned in 1827, ending the "happy experience", the federalist Manuel Dorrego assumed power as governor of Buenos Aires, but was soon executed by the unitarist Juan Lavalle during a military coup.

The exports of gold, allowed by the free trade policies, soon depleted the national reserves.[39] This posed a great problem, as gold was the medium of exchange of the local economy. Rivadavia sought to fix it by establishing the "Discount Bank", a central bank for printing fiat money. Like a number of other central banks worldwide, this bank was not owned by the state, but by private investors, British in this case.[40]

Members of the "Sociedad El Camoatí" (1848–1856), the first stock exchange in Buenos Aires

The report of the American John Murray Forbes to John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States, in 1824 mentioned that Britain had a huge influence in the economic power of the country.

He mentioned that the government in Buenos Aires was so eager to be on good terms with Britain and gain recognition of the declaration of independence that most official institutions (as the Bank) were under British control, and that Britain had similar control over the Argentine economy to that metropole of a colony, without the financial, civil or military costs.[40] Even the lack of an Argentine merchant fleet allowed Britain to manage the maritime trade.[41] Forbes's testimony should be appraised in perspective of the contemporary Anglo-American commercial rivalry, In light of the partial nature of the account and of his "jealousy, even antipathy" towards the English in Rio de la Plata.[42]

In the mid-1820s, when Manuel José García was Minister of Finance, the government borrowed heavily to finance new projects and to pay off war debts.[43] These loans were tendered at usurious rates: in one notorious loan, the government received credit for £570,000 from the Baring Brothers in exchange for a debt of £1,000,000.[43] In the 1820s, the peso papel began to lose value rapidly with respect to the peso fuerte, which was linked to the price of gold.[44] In 1827 the peso papel was devalued by 33%, and was devalued again by 68% in 1829.[44]

1829–1870

[edit]
In 1857, La Porteña became the first locomotive to operate in Argentina.

Juan Manuel de Rosas forced Lavalle to leave the province, and the federals ruled Buenos Aires until 1852.[45] Rosas modified a number of policies of the Rivadavian period but maintained others: he set a customs law with protectionist policies, but kept the port under the exclusive control of Buenos Aires and refused to call a constituent assembly.[46]

The customs law set trade barriers to products produced in the country, and imposed high import tariffs on luxury goods, together with export quotas and tariffs on gold and silver. However, the law was not completely effective because of the control of the port, which did not allow the provinces a steady financial income.[47] The exclusive control of the port was long resisted by federals from other provinces and led to the conflict of Rosas and Justo José de Urquiza at the battle of Caseros.[48] Despite the financial obstacles, the economy of Entre Ríos grew to a size near that of Buenos Aires, with the decline of saladeros and the growth of wool production.[49]

A saladero in Rosario, 1860s

In 1838 there was a new currency crisis, and the peso papel was devalued by 34%, and in 1839 when the peso papel lost 66% of its value.[44] It was again devalued by 95% in 1845, and by 40% in 1851.[44] The Alsina years, which coincided with the secession of Buenos Aires, saw an extremely poor economic performance.[50] Efforts to fund extraordinary expenditure on the conflict between Buenos Aires and the other provinces of the Confederation caused the fiscal deficit to skyrocket.[50] Similarly, the Confederation faced harsh economic conditions. Urquiza, president of the Confederation, issued the 'law of differential rights', benefiting the ships trading with the ports of the Confederation and but not with Buenos Aires.[51]

The end of the civil wars provided the political and legal stability necessary to assert property rights and cut transaction costs, contributing to the huge inflows of capital and labor resources that built modern Argentina.[52] In 1866 an attempt was made to stabilize the currency, by introducing a system of convertibility,[53] which restricted the monetary authorities to issue paper currency only if it was fully backed by gold or convertible foreign currency.[44] The decades of the 1860s and 1880s experienced the most favorable performance of the economy overall, setting the stage for the so-called Golden Age of Argentine history.[54] Nevertheless, the first years of independence included a difficult economic development. In spite of the new freedom caused by the inauguration of the republic, the country was not economically united: expansion in some parts and decline in other parts. Indeed, people experienced different levels of income and welfare. Therefore, it is unclear whether this period of time (1820–1870) brought an income or welfare improvement.[55]

In the 60 years after the founding of the farming colony at Esperanza in 1856, the base of Argentine agriculture gradually shifted from livestock to crops.[9]

Export-led boom

[edit]

"In spite of its enormous advance which the Republic has made within the last ten years, the most cautious critic would not hesitate to aver that Argentina has but just entered upon the threshold of her greatness."

Percy F. Martin, Through Five Republics of South America, 1905.[56]

Argentina, which had been insignificant during the first half of the 19th century, showed growth from the 1860s up until 1930 that was so impressive that it was expected to eventually become the United States of South America.[57] This impressive and sustained economic performance was driven by the export of agricultural goods.[58] A 2018 study describes Argentina as a "super-exporter" during the period 1880–1929 and credits the boom to low trade costs and trade liberalization on one hand and on the other hand to the fact that Argentina "offered a diverse basket of products to the different European and American countries that consumed them".[59] The study concludes "that Argentina took advantage of a multilateral and open economic system."[59]

During the second half of the 19th century, there was an intense process of colonization of the territory in the form of latifundia.[3] Until 1875 wheat was imported as it was not grown in sufficient quantities to supply local demand;[60] by 1903 the country supplied all its own needs and exported 75,270,503 imperial bushels (2,737,491.8 m3) of wheat, enough to sustain 16,000,000 people.[61]

In the 1870s real wages in Argentina were around 76% relative to Britain, rising to 96% in the first decade of the 20th century.[62] GDP per capita rose from 35% of the United States average in 1880 to about 80% in 1905,[63] similar to that of France, Germany and Canada.[64]

1870–1890

[edit]
Buenos Aires Docks, 1915. The British-financed docks and railway system created a dynamic agro-export sector that remains as an economic pillar.

In 1870, during Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's presidency, total debt amounted to 48 million gold pesos. A year later, it had almost doubled.[54] Avellaneda became president after winning the 1874 presidential election.[65] The coalition that supported his candidature became the Partido Autonomista Nacional, Argentina's first national party;[65] all the presidents until 1916 would come from this party.[66] Avellaneda undertook the tough actions needed to get the debt under control.[54] In 1876 convertibility was suspended.[54] The inflation rate rose to almost 20% in the following year, but the ratio of debt to GDP plummeted.[54] Avellaneda's administration was the first to deliver a balance in the fiscal accounts since the mid-1850s.[54] Avellaneda passed on to his successor, Julio Argentino Roca, a much more manageable economic environment.[50]

Quilmes brewery in 1910

In 1881, a currency reform introduced a bimetallic standard, which went into effect in July 1883.[67] Unlike many precious metal standards the system was very decentralized: no national monetary authority existed and all control over convertibility rested with the five banks of issue.[67] The period of convertibility lasted only 17 months: from December 1884 the banks of issue refused to exchange gold at par for notes.[67] The suspension of convertibility was soon accommodated by the government, since, having no institutional power over the monetary system, there was little they could do to prevent it.[67]

The profitability of the agricultural sector attracted foreign capital for railways and industries.[58] British capital investments went from just over £20 million in 1880 to £157 million in 1890.[68] During the 1880s, investment began to show some diversification as capital began to flow from other countries such as France, Germany and Belgium, though British investment still accounted for two thirds of total foreign capital.[68] In 1890 Argentina was the destination of choice for British investment in Latin America, a position it held until World War I.[68] By then, Argentina had absorbed between 40% and 50% of all British investment outside the United Kingdom.[68] Despite its dependence on the British market, Argentina managed a 6.7% annual rate of growth of exports between 1870 and 1890 as a result of successful geographic and commodity diversification.[69]

The first Argentine railway, a ten-kilometer (6.2 mi) road, had been built in 1854.[70] By 1885, a total of 2,700 miles (4,300 km) of railways were open for traffic.[70] The new railways brought livestock to Buenos Aires from the vast pampas, for slaughter and processing in the (mainly English) meat-packing plants, and then for shipment around the world.[71] Some contemporary analysts lamented the export bias of the network configuration, while opposing the "monopoly" of private British companies on nationalist grounds.[72] Others have since argued that the initial layout of the system was mostly shaped by domestic interests, and that it was not, in fact, strictly focused on the port of Buenos Aires.[72]

Immigrants disembarking to the southern dock, port of Buenos Aires, early 20th century

The scarcity of labor and abundance of land induced a high marginal product of labor.[3] European immigrants (chiefly Italians, Spaniards, French and Germans),[71] tempted by the high wages,[58] arrived in droves. The government subsidized European immigration for a short time in the late 1880s, but immigrants arrived in massive numbers even with no subsidy.[73]

Baring crisis to World War I

[edit]
Threshing scene, Buenos Aires, 1910s

Juárez Celman's administration saw a substantial increase in the ratio of debt to GDP toward the end of his tenure and an increasing weakness in the fiscal situation.[50] The Baring Brothers merchant bank had developed a close and profitable association with Argentina, and when Celman's government was unable to meet its payments to the House of Baring, a financial crisis ensued.[69] Argentina defaulted and suffered bank runs as the Baring Brothers faced failure.[74] The crisis was caused by the lack of co-ordination between monetary policy and fiscal policy, which ultimately led to the collapse of the banking system.[75] The financial crisis of 1890 left the government with no funds for its immigration subsidies program, and it was abolished in 1891.[76] Loans to Argentina were severely curtailed, and imports had to be cut sharply.[69] Exports were less affected, but the value of Argentine exports did not surpass the 1889 peak until 1898.[69]

Celman's successor, Carlos Pellegrini, laid the foundations for a return to stability and growth after the restoration of convertibility in 1899.[77] He also reformed the banking sector in ways that were to restore stability in the medium term.[77] Rapid growth rates soon returned: in the period 1903–1913, GDP increased at an annual rate of 7.7%, and industry grew even faster, jumping by 9.6%.[78] By 1906, Argentina had cleared the last remnants of the 1890 default and a year later the country re-entered the international bond markets.[78]

All the same, between 1853 and the 1930s, fiscal instability was a transitory phenomenon.[54] The depressions of 1873–77 and 1890–91 played a crucial role in fostering the rise of industry: timidly in the 1870s and more decisively in the 1890s, industry grew with each crisis in response to the need of a damaged economy to improve its trade balance through import-substitution.[79] By 1914, about 15% the Argentine labor force was involved in manufacturing, compared to 20% involved in commercial activities.[80] In 1913, the country's income per head was on a par with that of France and Germany, and far ahead of Italy's or Spain's.[6] At the end of 1913, Argentina had a gold stock of £59 million, or 3.7% of the world's monetary gold, while representing 1.2% of the world's economic output.[81]

Interwar period

[edit]

1914–1929

[edit]
A group of YPF workers in 1923

Argentina, like many other countries, entered into a recession following the beginning of World War I as international flows of goods, capital and labour declined.[58] Foreign investment in Argentina came to a complete standstill from which it never fully recovered:[82] Great Britain had become heavily indebted to the United States during the war and would never again export capital at a comparable scale.[82] And after the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914, Argentina and the other Southern cone economies declined, as investors turned their attention to Asia and the Caribbean.[83] The United States, which came out of the war a political and financial superpower, especially perceived Argentina (and to a lesser extent Brazil) as a potential rival on world markets.[82] Neither the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange nor the private domestic banks developed rapidly enough to fully replace British capital.[84]

As a consequence, investable funds became increasingly concentrated in a single institution, the Banco de la Nacion Argentina (BNA), creating a financial system vulnerable to rent-seeking.[84] Rediscounting and non-performing loans grew steadily at the BNA after 1914, polluting its balance sheet.[85] This corrosion of balance sheets was a result of crony loans to the other banks and the private sector.[86] In its rediscounting actions the BNA was not engaged in pure lender of last resort actions, following Bagehot's principle of lending freely at a penalty rate.[86] Instead, the state bank allowed the private banks to shed their risks, with bad paper used as security, and lent them cash at 4.5%, below the rate the BNA offered its customers on time deposits.[86]

However, unlike its neighbors, Argentina became capable of still having relatively healthy growth rates during the 1920s, not being as affected by the worldwide collapse of commodity prices as Brazil and Chile were. Similarly, the gold standard was still in place at a time almost all European countries had abandoned it. Automobile ownership in the country in 1929 was the highest in the Southern hemisphere.

For all its success, by the 1920s Argentina was not an industrialized country by the standards of Britain, Germany or the United States.[87] A major hindrance to full industrialization was the lack of energy sources such as coal or hydropower.[87] Experiments with oil, discovered in 1907, had poor results.[87] Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, the first state-owned oil company in Latin America,[88] was founded in 1922 as a public company responsible for 51% of the oil production; the remaining 49% was in private hands.[89]

Exports of frozen beef, especially to Great Britain, proved highly profitable after the invention of refrigerated ships in the 1870s.[90] However Britain imposed new restrictions on meat imports in the late 1920s, which sharply reduced beef imports from Argentina. Ranchers responded by switching from livestock to crop production, but there was lasting damage to the Argentine economy.[91]

Great Depression

[edit]
Unemployed men in "Villa Desocupación" in Retiro, 1930.
A traffic jam caused by a demonstration, Buenos Aires, 1936. Photo by Horacio Coppola.

The Great Depression had a comparatively mild effect on Argentina:[92] the unemployment rate never went above 10%,[93] and the country largely recovered by 1935.[92] However, the Depression permanently halted its economic expansion.[57] Actually, much like other developing countries, the economy was already in a downturn beginning in 1927, a result of declining prices.

Argentina abandoned the gold standard in December 1929, earlier than most countries.[82] For much of the previous period, the country had operated a currency board, in which a body known as the caja de conversión was charged with maintaining the peso's value in gold.[94] The devaluation of the peso increased the competitiveness of its exports and protected domestic production.[58] Argentina saw the value of its exports drop from $1,537 million in 1929 to $561 million in 1932, but this was by no means the most severe downturn in the region.[95]

In response to the Great Depression, successive governments pursued a strategy designed to transform Argentina into a country self-sufficient in industry as well as agriculture.[9] The strategy of growth was based on import substitution in which tariffs and quotas for final goods were raised.[58] The import-substitution process had progressively been adopted since the late 19th century, but the Great Depression intensified it.[79] The government's encouragement of industrial growth diverted investment from agriculture, and agricultural production fell dramatically.[9]

In 1930, the armed forces forced the Radicals from power and improved economic conditions, but political turbulence intensified.[96] In 1932, Argentina required immigrants to have a labor contract prior to arrival, or proof of financial means of support.[97] The Roca-Runciman Treaty of 1933 gave Argentina a quota of the British market for exports of its primary products, but the discriminatory British imperial tariffs and the effects of deflation in Britain actually led to a small decline of Argentine exports to Great Britain.[98]

Unemployment resulting from the Great Depression caused unrest.[96] The industrial growth spurt of the 1930s gradually slowed.[99] The economic conditions of the 1930s contributed to the process of internal migration from the countryside and smaller towns to the cities, especially Buenos Aires, where there were greater opportunities for employment.[100] The urban working classes led several unsuccessful uprisings prior to the 1937 presidential elections.[96] Traditional export agriculture stagnated at the outbreak of World War II and remained sluggish.[99]

Import substitution industrialization Era

[edit]

First Peronist period: Nationalization

[edit]
A vocational school in 1945
Propaganda poster of the first Five-Year Plan (1946–1951) promoting the nationalization of public services

After the 1943 Argentine coup d'état, Juan Perón, a member of the United Officers Group that engineered the plot,[101] became Minister of Labor.[96] Campaigning among workers with promises of land, higher wages, and social security, he won a decisive victory in the 1946 presidential elections.[96] Under Perón, the number of unionized workers expanded as he helped to establish the powerful General Confederation of Labor.[96] Perón turned Argentina into a corporatist country in which powerful organized interest groups negotiated for positions and resources.[96] During these years, Argentina developed the largest middle class on the South American continent.[102]

Early Peronism was a period of macroeconomic shocks during which a strategy of import substitution industrialization was put into practice.[103] Bilateral trade, exchange control and multiple exchange rates were its most important characteristics.[103] Beginning in 1947, Perón took a leftward shift after breaking up with the "Catholic nationalism" movement, which led to gradual state control of the economy, reflected in the increase in state-owned property, interventionism (including control of rents and prices) and higher levels of public investment, mainly financed by the inflationary tax. The expansive macroeconomic policy, which aimed at the redistribution of wealth and the increase of spending to finance populist policies, led to inflation.[103]

Wartime reserves enabled the Peronist government to fully pay off the external debt in 1952; by the end of the year, Argentina became a net creditor to the tune of US$5 billion.[citation needed] Between 1946 and 1948, the French and British-owned railways were nationalized, and the existing networks were expanded, with the rail network reaching 120,000 kilometers by 1954.[104] The government also established the IAPI to control the foreign trade in export commodities.[105] Perón erected a system of almost complete protection against imports, largely cutting off Argentina from the international market.[106] In 1947, he announced his first Five-Year Plan based on growth of nationalized industries.[99] Protectionism also created a domestically oriented industry with high production costs, incapable of competing in international markets.[99] At the same time, output of beef and grain, the country's main export goods, stagnated.[106] The IAPI began shortchanging growers and, when world grain prices dropped in the late 1940s, it stifled agricultural production, exports and business sentiment, in general.[107] Despite these shortcomings, protectionism and government credits did allow an exponential growth of the internal market: radio sales increased 600% and fridge sales grew 218%, among others.[108]

During the first Five-Year Plan, various public works and programs were executed, with the aim to modernize the country's infrastructure. For example, a total of 22 hydroelectric power plants were erected, increasing electrical output from 45,000 kVA in 1943 to 350,000 kVA in 1952. Between 1947 and 1949, a network of gas pipelines, which linked Comodoro Rivadavia with Buenos Aires, was built. The gas distribution reached 15 million m³, reducing costs by a third.[109]

During this period Argentina's economy continued to grow, on average, but more slowly than the world as a whole or than its neighbors, Brazil and Chile.[110] A suggested cause is that a multitude of frequently changed regulations, at times extended to ridiculous specifics (such as a 1947 decree setting prices and menus for restaurants), choked economic activity.[110] The long-term effect was to create pervasive disregard for the law, which Argentines came to view as a hindrance to earning a living rather than an aid to enforcing legitimate property rights.[110] The combination of industrial protectionism, redistribution of income from the agrarian to the industrial sector, and growing state intervention in the economy sparked an inflationary process.[111] By 1950, Argentina's GDP per capita accounted fell to less than half of that of the United States.[112]

Perón's second Five-Year Plan in 1952 favored increased agricultural output over industrialization, but industrial growth and high wages in previous years had expanded the domestic demand for agrarian goods.[99] During the 1950s, output of beef and grain fell, and the economy suffered.[99] The policy shift toward agricultural production created a gap in income distribution, as the majority of those who worked in agriculture labored on tiny plots, while the majority of the land was in large estates.[102] Argentina signed trade agreements with Britain, the Soviet Union and Chile, slightly opening the market to international trade as Perón's second economic plan sought to capitalize on the country's comparative advantage in agriculture.[106]

Post-Peron era and the 1960s

[edit]
In terms of GDP per capita, Argentina remained well above its neighbors as late as 1965
In 1961, a Ferranti Mercury II named "Clementina" became one of the first computers in use in Argentina.[113]

In the 1950s and part of the 1960s, the country had a slow rate of growth in line with most Latin American countries, while most of the rest of the world enjoyed a golden era.[57] Stagnation prevailed during this period, and the economy often found itself contracting, mostly the result of union strife.[57]

Wage growth beginning in 1950 pushed prices up.[111] The inflation rate increased faster, and soon real wages fell.[111] High inflation prompted a stabilization plan that included tighter monetary policy, a cut in public expenditures, and increases in taxes and utility prices.[111] Increasing economic wariness as the 1950s progressed became one of the leading causes for Perón's downfall in the Revolución Libertadora of 1955, as the working classes saw their quality of life diminished, thus stripping Perón from a large part of his popular support.

Arturo Frondizi won the 1958 presidential election in a landslide.[114] In the same year he announced the beginning of the "oil battle": a new attempt at import substitution which aimed to achieve self-sufficiency in oil production by signing several contract with foreign companies for the mining and exploitation of oil.[115] In 1960, Argentina joined the Latin American Free Trade Association.[106]

Another coup in June 1966, the so-called Argentine Revolution, brought Juan Carlos Onganía to power. Ongania appointed Adalbert Krieger Vasena to head the Economy Ministry.[116] His strategy implied a very active role for the public sector in guiding the process of economic growth,[116] calling for state control over the money supply, wages and prices, and bank credit to the private sector.[117]

The Rosariazo in 1969. The worsening economy and the onset of dictatorship led to waves of protests, strikes and riots.

Krieger's tenure witnessed increased concentration and centralization of capital, coupled with privatization of many important sectors of the economy.[116] The international financial community offered strong support for this program, and economic growth continued.[99] GDP expanded at an average annual rate of 5.2% between 1966 and 1970, compared to 3.2% during the 1950s.[118]

After 1966, in a radical departure from past policies, the Ministry of Economy announced a program to reduce rising inflation while promoting competition, efficiency, and foreign investment.[99] The anti-inflation program focussed on controlling nominal wages and salaries.[119] Inflation decreased sharply, decreasing from an annual rate of about 30% in 1965–67 to 7.6% in 1969.[118] Unemployment remained low, but real wages fell.[118]

A gradual reversal in trade policy culminated in the military announcing import substitution as a failed experiment, lifting protectionist barriers and opening the economy to the world market.[106] This new policy boosted some exports, but an overvalued currency meant certain imports were so cheap that local industry declined, and many exports were priced out of the market.[106] The Ministry of Economy put an end to the exchange rate policy of previous governments.[111] The currency underwent a 30% devaluation.[111] In 1970, the "peso moneda nacional" (one of the longest-lived currencies in the region) was replaced by the "peso ley" [shortened form of "peso ley 18188"] (100 to 1).

In May 1969, discontent with Krieger's economic policies led to riots in the cities of Corrientes, Rosario and Córdoba.[120] Krieger was removed, but the Onganía administration was unable to agree on an alternative economic policy.[120] By 1970, the authorities were no longer capable of maintaining wage restraints, leading to a wage-price spiral.[117] As the economy started to languish and import substitution industrialization ran out of steam, urban migration slowed.[102] Per capita income fell, and with it the standard of living.[102] Perón's third term of office was characterized by an expansive monetary policy, which resulted in an uncontrolled rise in the level of inflation.[103]

Deindustrialization (1975–2002)

[edit]

Stagnation (1975–1990)

[edit]
From the Rodrigazo in 1975, inflation accelerated sharply, leading to several redenominations of the Argentine currency.

Between 1975 and 1990, real per capita income fell by more than 20%, wiping out almost three decades of economic development.[82] The manufacturing industry, which had experienced a period of uninterrupted growth until the mid-1970s, began a process of continuous decline.[121] The extreme dependence on state support of the many protected industries exacerbated the sharp fall of the industrial output.[122] The degree of industrialization at the start of the 1990s was similar to its level in the 1940s.[121]

In the early 1970s, per capita income in Argentina was twice as high as in Mexico and more than three times as high as in Chile and Brazil. By 1990, the difference in income between Argentina and the other Latin American countries was much smaller.[82] Starting with the Rodrigazo in 1975, inflation accelerated sharply, reaching an average of more than 300% per year from 1975 to 1991, increasing prices 20 billion times.[82]

When the military dictatorship finance minister José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz assumed power, inflation was equivalent to an annual rate of 5000%, and output had declined sharply.[123] In 1976, the era of import substitution was ended, and the government lowered import barriers, liberalized restrictions on foreign borrowing, and supported the peso against foreign currencies.[9] That exposed the fact that domestic firms could not compete with foreign imports because of the overvalued currency and long-term structural problems.[122] A financial reform was implemented that aimed both to liberalize capital markets and to link Argentina more effectively with the world capital market.[123]

After the relatively stable years of 1976 to 1978, fiscal deficits started to climb again, and the external debt tripled in three years.[124] The increased debt burden interrupted industrial development and upward social mobility.[125] From 1978, the rate of exchange depreciation was fixed with a tablita, an active crawling peg that was based on a timetable to announce a gradually-declining rate of depreciation.[123][126] The announcements were repeated on a rolling basis to create an environment in which economic agents could discern a government commitment to deflation.[123] Inflation gradually fell throughout 1980 to below 100%.[123] In 1978 and 1979, the real exchange rate appreciated because inflation consistently outpaced the rate of depreciation.[123] The overvaluation ultimately led to capital flight and a financial collapse.[123]

The failure of Banco de Intercambio Regional, in March 1980, led to runs on other banks.[127]

Growing government spending, large wage raises, and inefficient production created a chronic inflation that rose through the 1980s, when it briefly exceeded an annual rate of 1000%.[9] Successive regimes tried to control inflation by wage and price controls, cuts in public spending, and restriction of the money supply.[9] Efforts to stem the problems came to naught when in 1982 Argentina came into armed conflict with the United Kingdom over the Falkland Islands.[124]

Timeline of Argentine exports from 1975 to 1989

In August 1982, after Mexico had announced its inability to service its debt, Argentina approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for financial assistance, as it too was in serious difficulties.[124] While developments looked positive for a while, an IMF staff team visiting Buenos Aires in August 1983 discovered a variety of problems, particularly a loss of control over wages affecting both the budget and external competitiveness, and the program failed.[124] With the peso quickly losing value to inflation, the new Argentine peso argentino was introduced in 1983, with 10,000 old pesos exchanged for each new peso.[9]

In December 1983, Raúl Alfonsín was elected President of Argentina, bringing an end to the military dictatorship.[124] Under Alfonsin, negotiations started on a new program with the IMF, but they led to nothing.[124] In March 1984, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela lent Argentina $300 million for three months, followed by a similar amount by the United States. That provided some breathing space as it was not before late September 1984 that an agreement was reached between the IMF and Argentina.[124]

In 1985, the Argentine austral replaced the discredited peso.[124] In 1986, Argentina failed to pay the debt for several months, and the debt was renegotiated with the creditor banks.[128] In 1986 and 1987, the Austral Plan faded away, as fiscal policy was undermined by large off-budget spending and a loose monetary policy, again falling out of compliance with an IMF program.[124] A new IMF arrangement was reached in July 1987, only to collapse in March 1988.[124]

The next move by the authorities was to launch the Primavera Plan in August 1988, a package of economically heterodox measures that foresaw little fiscal adjustment. The IMF refused to resume lending to Argentina.[124] Six months after its introduction, the plan collapsed, leading to hyperinflation[124] and riots.

Convertibility Plan (1991–2002)

[edit]
Multinational retailers like Walmart and Carrefour opened hypermarkets in every major Argentine city in the early 1990s.[129]

The Peronist Carlos Menem was elected president in May 1989.[124] He immediately announced a new shock program, this time with more fiscal adjustment in view of a government deficit of 16% of GDP.[124] In November 1989 agreement was reached on yet another standby with the IMF, but again the arrangement was ended prematurely, followed by another bout of hyper-inflation, which reached 12,000% per year.[124]

After the collapse of public enterprises during the late 1980s, privatization became strongly popular.[129] Menem privatized almost everything the state owned, except for a couple of banks.[94] In terms of service there were indisputable improvements. For example, before the telephone privatization, to get a new line it was not unusual to wait more than ten years, and apartments with telephone lines carried a big premium in the market. After privatization the wait was reduced to less than a week.[129] Productivity increased as investment modernized farms, factories and ports.[94] However, in all cases, there were large outflows of employees.[129] In addition, the process of privatization was suspected of corruption in many cases.[129] Ultimately, the privatized enterprises became private (rather than public) monopolies.[94] Their prices on long-term contracts were indexed to American inflation, even though prices in Argentina were falling.[94]

In 1991, economy minister Domingo Cavallo set out to reverse Argentina's decline through free-market reforms such as open trade.[94] On 1 January 1992, a monetary reform replaced the austral with the peso at a rate of 10,000 australs for 1 peso.[130] The cornerstone of the reform process was a currency board, under which the peso was fixed by law at par to the dollar, and the money supply restricted to the level of hard-currency reserves. This was a risky policy which meant at a later stage Argentina could not devalue.[94] After a lag, inflation was tamed. With risk of devaluation apparently removed, capital poured in from abroad.[94] GDP growth increased significantly and total employment rose steadily until mid-1993.[93] During the second half of 1994, the economy slowed down and unemployment increased from 10% to 12.2%.[93]

Although the economy was already in a mild recession at this point, conditions worsened substantially after the devaluation of the Mexican peso during December 1994.[93] The economy shrank by 4%, and a dozen banks collapsed.[94] With the labor force continuing to expand and employment falling sharply along with aggregate demand, unemployment rose by over 6% in 6 months.[93] But the government responded effectively: it tightened bank regulation and capital requirements, and encouraged foreign banks to take over weaker local ones.[94] The economy soon recovered and, between 1996 and 1998, both output and employment grew rapidly and unemployment declined substantially.[93] However, at the beginning of 1999, the Brazilian currency underwent a strong depreciation. The Argentine economy contracted 4% in 1999, and unemployment increased again.[93]

Exports grew from $12 billion in 1991 to $27 billion in 2001, but many industries could not compete abroad, especially after Brazil's devaluation.[94] The strong, fixed exchange rate turned the trade balance to a cumulative US$22 billion in deficits between 1992 and 1999.[131] Unable to devalue, Argentina could only become more competitive if prices fell.[94] Deflation came from recession, falling wages and rising unemployment.[94] Interest rates remained high, with banks lending dollars at 25%.[94]

The share of public spending in GDP increased from 27% in 1995 to 30% in 2000.[94] Some poorer provinces had depended on state enterprises or on inefficient industries, such as sugar, which could not compete when international trade was opened.[94] To quell social unrest, provincial governors padded their payrolls.[94] The government had embarked on an old-age pension reform with costs reaching 3% of GDP in 2000, as it still had to pay pensioners but no longer received contributions.[94]

Economic crisis (1998–2002)

[edit]
February 2002: depositors protest against frozen accounts for fear they might lose value, or worse.

Argentina fell into a deep recession in the second half of 1998, triggered and then compounded by a series of adverse external shocks, which included low prices for agricultural commodities,[132] the appreciation of the US dollar, to which the peso was pegged at par,[132] the 1998 Russian financial crisis, the LTCM crisis and the devaluation of the Brazilian real in January 1999.[133] Argentina's sluggish GDP growth fuelled concerns about the sustainability of public debt.[133]

In December 1999, President Fernando de la Rúa took office, seeking assistance from the IMF shortly thereafter.[134] In March 2000, the IMF agreed to a three-year $7.2 billion stand-by arrangement with Argentina, conditioned on a strict fiscal adjustment and the assumption of 3.5% GDP growth in 2000 (actual growth was 0.5%).[134] In late 2000, Argentina rapidly lost credit in capital markets, as reflected in a sharp and sustained rise in spreads on Argentine bonds over U.S. Treasuries.[133] In December, the de la Rua government announced a $40 billion multilateral assistance package organized by IMF.[134] The uneven implementation of fiscal adjustments and reforms, a worsening global macroeconomic environment, and political instability led to the complete loss of market access and intensified capital flight by the second quarter of 2001.[133] Argentine sovereign debt, held mostly in bonds, was massively sold short and the government found itself unable to borrow or meet debt payments.[135]

In December 2001, a series of deposit runs began to destabilize the banking system, leading the Argentine authorities to impose a partial withdrawal freeze.[133] With Argentina no longer in compliance with the conditions of the expanded IMF-supported program, the IMF decided to suspend disbursements.[133] At the end of December, in a climate of severe political and social unrest, the country partially defaulted on its international obligations; in January 2002, it formally abandoned the currency convertibility regime.[133]

The ensuing economic and political crisis was arguably the worst since the country's independence.[82] By the end of 2002, the economy had contracted by 20% since 1998.[133] Over the course of two years, output fell by more than 15%, the Argentine peso lost three-quarters of its value, and registered unemployment exceeded 25%.[82] Income poverty in Argentina grew from an already high 35.4% in October 2001 to a peak of 54.3% in October 2002.[136]

Critics of the policy of economic liberalization pursued during the Menem Presidency argued that Argentina's economic woes were caused by neoliberalism, which had been actively promoted by the U.S. government and the IMF under the Washington Consensus.[82] Others have stressed that the main shortcoming of economic policy-making during the 1990s was that economic reform was not pursued with enough determination.[82] A 2004 report by the IMF's Independent Evaluation Office criticized the IMF's conduct prior to Argentina's economic collapse of 2001, saying the IMF had supported the country's fixed exchange rate for too long, and was too lenient towards fiscal deficits.[137][138]

Kirchnerism and relative growth (2003–2015)

[edit]
In the mid-2000s, soybeans, soybean oil and meal generated more than 20% of Argentina's export revenue.[139]

In January 2002 Eduardo Duhalde was appointed president, the fifth in two weeks.[140] Roberto Lavagna, who became Minister of the Economy in April 2002, was credited for the ensuing recovery, having stabilized prices and the exchange rate to head off hyperinflation.[141] After the default in 2001, growth reached over 6% a year for seven of the eight years to 2011.[142] This was in part due to a commodity price boom, and also because the government managed to keep the value of the currency low, boosting industrial exports.[142]

Kirchner administration

[edit]

Néstor Kirchner became president in May 2003. In the mid-2000s, export of unprocessed soybeans, soybean oil, and meal generated more than 20% of Argentina's export revenue, triple the joint share of the traditional exports of beef and wheat.[139] Export taxes comprised 8% to 11% of the Kirchner government's total tax receipts, around two-thirds from soy exports.[143] Taxes on imports and exports increased government spending from 14% to 25% of GDP.[142] However, the import and export taxes discouraged foreign investment, while high spending pushed inflation over 20%.[142]

An attempt by the Kirchner administration to impose price controls in 2005 failed, as many items went out of stock and the mandatory prices were often ignored.[144] Various sectors of the economy were re-nationalized, including the postal service (2003), the San Martín Railway line (2004), the water utility serving the Province of Buenos Aires (2006)[145] and Aerolíneas Argentinas (2009).[146]

In December 2005, Kirchner decided to liquidate the Argentine debt to the IMF in a single payment, without refinancing, for a total of $9.8 billion.[147] The payment was partly financed by a US$1.6 billion loan from Venezuela,.[147] As of mid-2008[needs update] Venezuela holds an estimated US$6 billion in Argentine debt.[148] In 2006, Argentina re-entered international debt markets selling US$500 million of its Bonar V five-year dollar denominated bonds, with a yield of 8.36%, mostly to foreign banks, and Moody's boosted Argentina's debt rating from B− to B.[149]

In early 2007 the administration began interfering with inflation estimates.[clarification needed][150]

Fernández administration

[edit]
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner inaugurating a factory in Ushuaia. Firms like Blackberry, HP and Motorola have set up plants in Tierra del Fuego, drawn by tax breaks.[151]

On December 10, 2007, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner became president. In 2008 the rural sector mobilized against a resolution that would have increased the tax rate on soybean exports from 35% to 44.1%. Ultimately, the new taxation regime was abandoned.[152] Official Argentine statistics are believed to have significantly underreported inflation since 2007, and independent economists publishing their own estimates of Argentine inflation have been threatened with fines and prosecution.[153]

In October 2008 President Fernández de Kirchner nationalized private pension funds worth almost $30 billion, ostensibly to protect the pensions against falling stock prices around the world, although critics said the government simply wanted to add the money to its budget.[154] Private pension funds, which were first licensed in 1994, suffered large losses during the 1998–2002 crisis and by 2008, the state subsidized 77% of the funds' beneficiaries.[155]

The late-2000s recession hit the country in 2009 with GDP growth slowing to 0.8%.[156] High GDP growth resumed in 2010, and the economy expanded by 8.5%.[157] In April 2010, Economy Minister Amado Boudou prepared a debt swap package for the holders of over US$18 billion in bonds who did not participate in the 2005 Argentine debt restructuring.[158][159] In late 2010, the largest new natural gas deposits in 35 years were discovered in Neuquén Province.[160] The unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2011 was 7.3%.[161]

In November 2011, the government laid a plan to cut utilities subsidies to higher income households.[162] By mid-2011, credit was outpacing GDP by a wide margin, raising concerns that the economy was overheating.[163] Argentina began a period of fiscal austerity in 2012.[164][165] In April 2012, the government announced plans to expropriate YPF, despite the opposition of some energy experts, claiming that YPF's Spanish partner and major holder, Repsol, had not done its duty as to provide the financial support for research and land exploitation, as well as being a bad administrator concerned only in sending profits to Spain and forsaking YPF's economic growth.[166]

Rising inflation and capital flight caused a rapid depletion of the country's dollar reserves, prompting the government to severely curtail access to dollars in June 2012.[167] The imposition of capital controls, in turn, led to the emergence of a black market for dollars, known as the "dólar blue", at higher rates than the official exchange rate.[168]

By May 2014, private forecasts estimated annual inflation at 39.9%, one of the highest rates in the world.[169] In July 2014, a ruling from a New York court ordered the country to pay the remaining holders of the bonds defaulted in 2001, which by then were mostly American Vulture funds, before it paid any of its exchange bondholders. The Argentine government refused, causing the country to default on its debt again.[170]

Economic problems since 2016

[edit]

Presidency of Mauricio Macri

[edit]

On December 17, 2015, Macri lifted foreign exchange restrictions, leading to a 30% devaluation of the Peso, the largest since 2002.[171] [172][173][174] In January 2016 it was devalued to 44 cents.[175][176] Unemployment reached double digits as, with massive layoffs in the public and private sectors.[177]

In April 2016, monthly inflation rose to 6.7%, the highest since 2002, according to the indicator, with annual inflation reaching 41.7%, one of the highest in the world.[178] Another estimate said that inflation reached 37.4%, the fiscal deficit 4.8%, and predicted GDP would fall by 1.9%.[179] In December 2015, the government announced the elimination of export restrictions for wheat, maize and meat, while reducing withholding taxes on soybeans to 30% at a fiscal cost of 23,604 million pesos.[180] This led to large price increases in staple products including oil, which increased by 51%, flour 110%, chicken 90%, noodles 78%, and a 50% increase in the price of meat in two weeks.[181] Because of a 150-180% increase in feed prices, many pig producers were in crisis. It is estimated that in the province of Buenos Aires alone, 40 thousand pork producers would fail.[182]

One of Macri's promises during the 2015 campaign was the elimination of Income tax for workers, saying "During my government workers will not pay tax on profits".[183] The Minister of the Economy and Public Finances, Alfonso Prat-Gay said that the draft amendments to the income tax would be sent to Congress for treatment on March 1, 2016.[184] As of December 2017, Macri had not fulfilled his promise, and it was not in the government's plan to eliminate the Income tax in the future either.[185]

An extremely high inflation rate was strangling the urban and rural working population: decreasing from the astounding 40% of 2016, it was expected to be 17% by 2018.[186] Other vulnerabilities include an unemployment rate close to 9% (expected to be in two digits in the next two years), as well as the sharp rise in the current-account deficit around 3% to 4% of GDP in 2017–2018 thanks to an over-valued currency.[186] Forecasts from the IMF show GDP growth in 2018 decelerating to 2.5% from 2.75%, and clearly any halting of the cyclical upswing in the global economy would set the country back.[186]

Presidency of Alberto Fernández

[edit]

In 2019 the inflation was considered the highest in 28 years according to the index, ascending to 53.8%. To the cause of the quarantine in 2020, in April, 143,000 SMEs will not be able to pay salaries and fixed expenses for the month, even with government assistance, so they will have to borrow or increase their capital contribution, and approximately 35,000 companies consider closing their business. even so, the president remains firm in his decision to maintain the state of total quarantine. Despite cuts in the payment chain, some project 180 total days and calculate 5% of companies that fell in May. In 2023, the rate of inflation in Argentina surpassed 100% for the first time since the early 1990s.[187]

Presidency of Javier Milei

[edit]

On 10 December 2023, Javier Milei, a right-wing libertarian, was sworn in as new president of Argentina.[188] During the electoral campaign, inflation was at over 100 percent.[189] At the time of Milei's inauguration in December 2023, Argentina’s economy was suffering 143 percent annual inflation, the currency had plunged and four out of 10 Argentines were in poverty.[190]

In January 2024, Argentina’s poverty rate reached 57.4%, the highest poverty rate in the country since 2004.[191]

Argentine paradox

[edit]
Argentina's GDP per capita (in 1990 international Geary–Khamis dollars) as a percentage of the US's, 1900–2008

The Nobel prize-winning economist Simon Kuznets is said to have remarked that there were four types of countries: the developed, the underdeveloped, Japan, and Argentina.[192]

According to Di Tella and Zymelman (1967), the main difference between Argentina and other settler societies such as Australia and Canada was its failure to seek adequate alternatives to compensate for the end of geographical expansion with the definitive closing of the frontier.[193] Solberg (1985) noted the differences between the land distribution in Canada, which led to a rising number of small farmers, and the small number of landowners each with large areas of land in Argentina.[193]

Duncan and Fogarty (1984) argued that the key difference lies in the contrast between the stable, flexible government of Australia and the poor governance of Argentina.[193] According to Platt and Di Tella (1985) the political tradition and immigration from different regions were the key factors, while Díaz Alejandro (1985) suggested that a restrictive immigration policy, similar to Australia's, would have increased productivity encouraged by the relative scarcity of labor.[193]

Taylor (1992) pointed out that the relatively high dependency ratio and the slow demographic transition in Argentina led to a reliance on foreign capital to offset the resulting low savings rate.[193] From the 1930s onwards, the accumulation of capital was hampered by the relatively high prices of (mostly imported) capital goods, which was caused by the industrial policy of import substitution, in contrast with the export-led growth favored by Canada.[193] Other distorting factors behind the high relative prices of capital goods include the multiple exchange rates, the black market for foreign currencies, the depreciation of the national currency and high customs tariffs.[193] This resulted in a lower capital intensity, which led to lower rates of labor productivity.[193]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
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References

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In Spanish

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  • Abad de Santillán, Diego (1965), Historia Argentina [History of Argentina] (in Spanish), Argentina: TEA (Tipográfica Editora Argentina)
  • Galasso, Norberto (2011), Historia de la Argentina, Tomo I&II, Buenos Aires: Colihue, ISBN 978-9505634781
  • Pablo Gerchunoff (1989), Peronist Economic Policies, 1946–1955, di Tella y Dornbusch

Further reading

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  • Amaral, Samuel, The Rise of Capitalism on the Pampas: The Estancias of Buenos Aires, 1785–1870. New York: Cambridge University Press 1998.
  • Barbero, Inés and Fernando Rocchi, A New Economic History of Argentina
  • Díaz Alejandro, Carlos Federico (1970). Essays on the economic history of the Argentine Republic. Yale University Press.
  • Cantamutto, Francisco J., and Daniel Ozarow. "Serial payers, serial losers? The political economy of Argentina’s public debt." Economy and society 45.1 (2016): 123–147.
  • De la Balze, Felipe A. M. (1995). Remaking the Argentine economy. Council on Foreign Relations.
  • Di Tella, Guido. Political Economy of Argentina, 1880–1946 (Springer, 2016).
  • Elena, Eduardo. "Spinsters, Gamblers, and Friedrich Engels: The Social Worlds of Money and Expansionism in Argentina, 1860s–1900s." Hispanic American Historical Review 102.1 (2022): 61–94.
  • Ford, A.G. The Gold Standard, 1880–1914: Britain and Argentina (1962) online Archived August 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
  • Francis, Joseph. 2013. "The Terms of Trade and the Rise of Argentina in the Long Nineteenth Century." PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science.
  • Gómez, Georgina M. Argentina's parallel currency: The economy of the poor (Routledge, 2015).
  • Horowitz, Joel. "Economic history and the politics of culture in twentieth-century Argentina." (2013): 193–203. online
  • Katz, Jorge and Bernardo Kosacoff, "Import-Substituting Industrialization in Argentina, 1940–1980," in An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Latin America vol. 3.
  • Lewis, Colin M. British Railways in Argentina, 1857–1914: A Case of Foreign Investment. London: Athlone 1983.
  • Lewis, Daniel. "Internal and External Convergence: The Collapse of Argentine Grain Farming," in Latin America in the 1940s, David Rock, ed. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1994, pp. 209–223.
  • Lewis, Paul H. The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press 1990.
  • Lloyd, A. L. "Meat from Argentina: The History of a National Industry," History Today (1951) 1#4 pp. 30–38.
  • Peralta-Ramos, Monica. The political economy of Argentina: power and class since 1930 (Routledge, 2019).
  • Rocchi, Fernando. Chimneys in the Desert: The Industrialization of Argentina in the Export Boom Years,1870–1930. Stanford: Stanford University Press 2006.
  • Solberg, Carl E. (1987). The Prairies and the Pampas: Agrarian Policy in Canada and Argentina, 1880–1930. Stanford Univ Pr. Archived from the original on August 3, 2017. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  • Taylor, Alan M. "The Argentina Paradox: microexplanations and macropuzzles." Latin American economic review 27.1 (2018): 1–17. online
  • Thomas, Carolyn, and Nicolás Cachanosky. "Argentina's post-2001 economy and the 2014 default." Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance 60 (2016): 70–80.
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