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by nradov 237 days ago
The Argentinian government was literally out of cash. There was nothing left and no ability to borrow. So complaining about cuts to education, science, and transportation seems a little silly. How exactly were they supposed to pay for it?

In the long run there are things they can do to raise revenue and cut waste. But when you're stuck in a deep hole the first thing you need to do is stop digging.
1 comments
rightbyte 237 days ago
One way to cover expenses is to raise income. The dude running the gov is a libertarian. I don't think he sees running out of other peoples money as a problem. It might be the point. "Big gov".
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nradov 237 days ago
I don't think you understand the severity of the cash crunch they were facing. How exactly could they raise government revenue fast? Tax rates were already high and compliance was low. Can't get blood from a stone.

Longer term they could maybe sell off some state assets but it takes time to bring in any cash that way.

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Daishiman 236 days ago
The severity of the cash crunch has been seen time and time again with the difference being that loans were used to fund a functioning government instead of being used by rich people to buy cheap US dollars to fund their vacations in Europe.
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nradov 236 days ago
What's your point? Regardless of what was done before there were no more loans available in the short term.

Seriously, what was the alternative? If you have no money and no one will lend you any money then the only remaining options are to run the printing presses (hyperinflation) or stop spending.

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Daishiman 236 days ago
The alternative was to take the loans, keep the existing currency control mechanisms, and run a moderate amount of inflation and exchange rate to keep the economy competitive while the income from exports in mining and ag kept coming in.

What's been done instead? Open currency markets while intervining to keep the US dollar artificially cheap, losing productivity and competitiveness and thus losing taxable income while funding cheap imports for consumer goods.

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nradov 236 days ago
No, you're really missing the point. There were no loans being offered at the time the budget cuts were made. There were no loans to take. Their credit line had been exhausted. They had run out of other peoples' money. How are you not getting this?
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