Argentina info poli 363

There is available on the internet an excellent discussion that took place in 2003 at the Stern business School at NYU on the collapse of the currency board in Argentina in 2002. The participants are Nouriel Roubini a professor at the school and a former senior economist for international affairs and White House Counsel of Economic Advisors; Domingo Cavallo the former Argentine minister of Finance and a visiting professor at the School; Mario Blejer, the former governor of the Argentine central bank. Prof. Howard Wachtel moderates the discussion. this is a very useful background discussion to this issue. Available on the net by googling Argentina currency board &Roubini. URL www.stern_nyu/sternbusiness/spring_summer_2003/argentina.html


The Argentine collapse is an excellent case study of how wrong headed the structural adjustment strategy   of the IMF can be and how much damage it, alongside political instability and corruption, can cause in a globalized world where capital overinvestment at excessively high interest rates and the flight of such capital are also present. The solution is not an easy one but it definitely obliges us to rethink the operations of the IMF and redevelop a workable safe development strategy for countries like Argentina that avoid the sort of damage their people have suffered.Canada ought to be in the forefront of such progressive policy work.