Food for Thought on Argentina

China, Argentina Using Economic Strategies Obama/U.S. Politicians Ignoring

Article by

Marc Chamot

Article published with the permission of the author
The original article appeared on www.examiner.com 

China, Argentina Using Economic Trade Advantages & Strategies Obama/U.S. Politicians Ignoring in the Name of Free Trades, Pro-Globalization & Wall Street Profits:

Bureau of Labor Statistics says fewer Americans are now employed. According to stats, around January 2001, 123.5 million non-farm employees were working.  

In January 2008, employment rose to 138 million, and now it’s at lower levels than what it was in 2001. As of July 2011, it’s at current levels of only 131.2 million Americans employed.

Unemployment more than doubled than what it was ten years ago. In January 2001, unemployment was at 6%, then on October 2009 it was at its highest 15.6% and now it’s down to 13.9%. So basically growth has stagnated and USA Today had a team of economic experts to outline what could be done about JOBS.

Every advice involved in the U.S.A Today article, was spending more money to stimulate the economy.

Such as, providing states billions more, mainly to states that keep spending money like there was no tomorrow. California has just demonstrated what they can do with taxpayer’s money they don’t have, like granting millions of dollars for undocumented’s education. No, that won’t work.

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Add workers at a discount or tax credit. Yes, that could work. But unfortunately, the nation is losing more tax money with this plan.

Share jobs to save jobs. No, I can’t see anybody taking 20% cut, if they didn’t have to.

Lower corporate taxes, most don’t pay taxes as it is, look at the General Electric tax scandal, they didn’t pay a dime after tax deductions through tax code loopholes. So what more do they want?

Train the Jobless. That would work, but that costs money.

Cutting the Red Tape, ease down on carbon regulations and restrictive FEES. Maybe, but it isn’t the whole solution.

Actually what is going to work? There’s a track record and this can be repeated here. It is what I have been writing about for the past four years.

I appreciate the New York Times coverage on things. It’s dubbed a left-wing liberal newspaper, but to me, it’s valuable source for information and another great source for my opinions and here’s the New York Time’s SOLUTION that pro-globalists and free traders don’t want to admit to; “The Argentine government intervened to keep the value of its currency low, which boosts local industry by making Argentina’s exports cheaper abroad while keeping foreign imports expensive.

It then taxed those imports and exports, using the money to pay for a New Deal-like public works binge, increasing government spending to 25 percent of G.D.P. today from 14 percent in 2003. As a result, the country has 400,000 new low-income housing units, as well as a long-delayed, 235-mile highway between the northern cities of Rosario and Córdoba.

In Argentina unemployment has been cut to fewer than 8 percent today from over 20 percent in 2002, and the poverty level has fallen by almost half over the last decade.”

El gobierno argentino intervino para mantener el valor de su moneda baja, lo que impulsa la industria local por lo que las exportaciones de Argentina son más barato en el extranjero, manteniendo las importaciones extranjeras caro.

Luego se ajustan los impuestos a las importaciones y exportaciones, utilizando el dinero para pagar por un nuevo acuerdo como exceso de obras públicas, el aumento del gasto público al 25 por ciento del PIB hoy del 14 por ciento en 2003. Como resultado, el país cuenta con 400.000 nuevas viviendas de bajos ingresos, así como una retrasada autopista de 235 millas entre las ciudades del norte de Rosario y Córdoba.

En Argentina el desempleo se ha reducido a menos del 8 por ciento actual comparado con más del 20 por ciento en el 2002, y el nivel de pobreza se ha reducido casi a la mitad durante la última década ".

And that’s WHAT China is doing too, and that's why they are growing and were NOT. While were heading the opposite way, unlike the United States, imports is far cheaper and domestic products higher, and that’s KILLING our economic prosperities, advantages and JOBS for Americans.

Here’s more on expertly researched and expertly written and here comes one from Ian Mount’s inArgentina Turnaround Tango.  

“ARGENTINA may seem like one of the last countries on earth to offer lessons for dealing with economic malaise. 

Once the eighth-largest economy in the world, it steadily slid through the 20th century, thanks to decades of repressive dictatorships and inconsistent market experiments. 

This ended ignominiously in 2001, when it defaulted on $100 billion in sovereign debt, plunging over half its 35 million people into poverty.

That, at least, is the Argentina people know. Since then, it has performed an economic U-turn — an achievement largely unnoticed outside Latin America, but one that President Obama and Congress should look to for inspiration.

Argentina is not without problems, but its recent economic record speaks for itself: the economy has grown by over 6 percent a year for seven of the last eight years,unemployment has been cut to under 8 percent today from over 20 percent in 2002, and the poverty level has fallen by almost half over the last decade.

The streets of Buenos Aires are choked with cars as Argentines are on track to buy some 800,000 new vehicles this year; the wine mecca of Mendoza is full of high-end tasting rooms, hotels and restaurants offering regional haute cuisine; and plasma TVs and BlackBerrys have become household staples among the urban middle class.

Argentina has regained its prosperity partly out of dumb luck: a commodity price boom has vastly benefitted this soy, corn and wheat producer.

But it has also prospered thanks to smart economic measures. The government intervened to keep the value of its currency low, which boosts local industry by making Argentina’s exports cheaper abroad while keeping foreign imports expensive.

It then taxed those imports and exports, using the money to pay for a New Deal-like public works binge, increasing government spending to 25 percent of G.D.P. today from 14 percent in 2003. As a result, the country has 400,000 new low-income housing units, as well as a long-delayed, 235-mile highway between the northern cities of Rosario and Córdoba.

It has also strengthened its social safety net: the Universal Child Allowance, started in 2009 with support from both the ruling party and the opposition, gives 1.9 million low-income families a monthly stipend of about $42 per child, which helps increase consumption.

Because the amount depends in part on how often the child attends school, it is also likely to improve the country’s long-term educational performance. The results have also paid off politically: President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner recently won about 50 percent of the vote in an open primary against nine other presidential candidates.

Why have Argentines embraced bigger government? In part because the preceding era showed how poorly austerity measures — the sort now being pushed by conservatives in the United States — promote growth.

In the late 1990s, Argentina cut government spending drastically on the order of its lenders at the International Monetary Fund. Predictably, between 1998 and 2002, Argentina’s economy shrank by almost 20 percent. It was only after Argentina turned its back on these austerity demands, and defaulted on its debt, that it began to recover.”

Aquí hay más de experta investigación y escrito por expertos y aquí viene una de Ian Mount en  Tango Turnaround  en Argentina.

"ARGENTINA puede parecer uno de los últimos países en la tierra para ofrecer lecciones para tratar el malestar económico.

Una vez la octava economía más grande del mundo, que se deslizó a través del siglo 20, gracias a décadas de dictaduras represivas y experimentos inconsistentes mercado.

Esto terminó ignominiosamente en 2001, cuando dejo de pagar $ 100 billones en la deuda soberana, sumiendo a más de la mitad de sus 35 millones de personas en la pobreza.

Eso, al menos, es la Argentina que la gente conoce. Desde entonces, se ha realizado un cambio de sentido económico - un logro en gran medida inadvertido fuera de América Latina, pero que el presidente Obama y el Congreso deben mirar en busca de inspiración.

Argentina no está exenta de problemas, pero sus resultados económicos recientes hablan por sí mismos: la economía ha crecido en más del 6 por ciento al año durante siete de los últimos ocho años, el desempleo se ha reducido a menos del 8 por ciento actual de más de 20 por ciento en 2002, y el nivel de pobreza se ha reducido casi a la mitad durante la última década.

Las calles de Buenos Aires estan ahogadas por los coches, los argentinos están en vías de comprar unos 800.000 vehículos nuevos este año, la meca del vino de Mendoza está llena de locales de degustación de alta gama, hoteles y restaurantes de alta cocina regional, y televisores de plasma y los BlackBerry se han convertido en productos básicos del hogar, entre la clase media urbana.

Argentina ha recuperado su prosperidad en parte por cuestión de suerte: un auge de precios de las materias primas ha beneficiado enormemente a este productor de soja, maíz y trigo.

También ha reforzado su red de seguridad social: la asignación universal por hijo, que comenzó en 2009 con el apoyo tanto del partido gobernante y la oposición, da a 1.900.000 familias de bajos ingresos un estipendio mensual de alrededor de US $ 42 por niño, lo cual ayuda a incrementar el consumo.

Debido a que la cantidad depende en parte de la frecuencia con la que el niño asiste a la escuela, también es probable que mejore el país a largo plazo del rendimiento educativo. Los resultados también han dado sus frutos políticos: la presidenta Cristina Fernández de Kirchner ganó recientemente el 50 por ciento de los votos en una primaria abierta en contra de los nueve candidatos presidenciales.

¿Por qué tienen los argentinos abrazado un gobierno más grande? En parte debido a la época anterior demostró lo mal que las medidas de austeridad - del tipo que ahora son maniobradas por los conservadores en los Estados Unidos - promueven el crecimiento.

A finales de 1990, Argentina redujo drásticamente el gasto público en el orden de sus acreedores en el Fondo Monetario Internacional. Como era de esperar, entre 1998 y 2002, la economía de Argentina se redujo en casi un 20 por ciento. Fue sólo después que Argentina dio la espalda a estas demandas de austeridad, y de pagar su deuda, que comenzó a recuperarse ".

The bottom line folks, we have elected a whole bunch of politicians that have pro-global mindsets and they REFUSE to budge away from this type of thinking. They don’t care if it brings our nation to the brinks of ruin, and they will make sure foreign imports rule in U.S. markets.

That’s why in 2012, it is imperative we pursue more house cleaning in U.S. congress. Obama, Democrats, Republicans no matter who they are, they ALL NEED to go, they’ve done enough damage to our country.