The Argentine economy has a long, troubled history, characterized by lurching from default to default. Facing very high inflation, right wing President Javier Milei’s instituted strong reforms, including public spending cuts, deregulation, and a strong peso policy. This policies appeared to work well for a time, and he famously took the stage with Elon Musk at CPAC and gifted him a chainsaw.

However, things have started to go south. Unemployment and poverty are surging and capital is fleeing the country at alarming rates. The later due to the peso being perceived as over valued and investors fear collapse of the currency. While inflation has slowed, it hasn’t slowed enough. The article notes that after China ended US soybean imports, Argentina has stepped in to help fill the gap. The Trump administration has promised to also bailout US soybean farmers. Bailouts are like eating peanuts. Once you start, you can’t stop.

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