IMF July 18 Staff Report on Argentina

despite tensions between the imf and argentina since argentina's fall from grace (argentina was imf's poster child prior to the financial collapse in 2000/2001), the imf has nonetheless been forced to acknowledge the country's recovery WITHOUT toeing the rigid imf macroeconomic line...

Argentina is emerging from an extraordinarily difficult period in its history, and has achieved a significant measure of political, social, and financial stability. Since 1998,the country has experienced a major recession, the largest financial crisis in its history, and a period of severe social problems reflecting historically high levels of poverty and unemployment. Since 2003, however, confidence has begun to return, helped by a successful political transition and responsible macroeconomic policies. After two years of remarkable growth, which continues into 2005, real wages are recovering, output is close to its pre-1998 peak, investment and exports are reaching record levels, financial markets are relatively stable, and unemployment and poverty indicators are gradually improving.

nice words, right...? makes things sound almost rosy, right...? well, take a good look at the graph below that lays out the percentage of argentina's population living in the imf's definition of "poverty" and "extreme poverty" during the period may 2001 through may 2004... let it sink in just exactly what these folks have been through... then, imagine if you will, something like this happening in the u.s... keep in mind, too, that argentina, by and large, has had the largest middle class of any latin american country... they have a well-established social infrastructure and a reasonably developed industrial and economic base...

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