With the peso artificially tied to the dollar, I'm not surprised that not much export-oriented industry has developed. They muscled the Philippines into floating their peso years back, and it did succeed to some extent: imports got more expensive and less attractive (though necessary ones, like oil, are a problem), and exports have gone up. The economy is still a wreck, though: political continuity and the insistence on maintaining property rights, even those which date back to colonial-era theft, have kept both political and economic power in the hands of the feudal elite, and management is horrendous, both in the public and private sectors. The wealthy simply cannot distinguish among public funds, corporate funds, and their own funds, and both the government and many potentially profitable private companies are being bled to death to support the extravagant lifestyles of the unproductive. Middle-class young people with the motivation and skills that could actually accomplish something leave in droves, looking for a place where what they know means as much as who they know. Sometimes I think about 10 years of Communism would not be a bad thing here, and when I see the way some of the feudal lords live and behave, the logic of the re-education camp takes on a certain appeal.
What's the Argentine debt up to now? I think we're up over $45 billion here, though it may have changed. Hard to keep track. |
