Argentine trains ground to a halt and hospitals were left running on fumes this week as austerity measures sparked mass walkouts -- even as the country boasted its first budget surplus in 12 years.
Privatization is one of the recommended policies, but essentially every place that has implemented it isn’t better off now. Studies show that it works for increasing the performance of the enterprises, but making shareholders richer doesn’t really matter for standards of living. Even the IMF and IBRD have started to see issues with privatizing everything. Argentina will one day be stronger, but not as a result of these policies.
Anytime a government mentions privatising something, it sells a public asset for pennys in the dollar, which cuts quality of service to make a profit and as a result drives up its cost as the government that sold it pockets a commission to use as a war chest against its opposition.
It basically privatises the profit and socialises the debt. So instead of government debt (which is easier to pay off as governments don’t die like humans do and they get better rates of interest) it becomes public debt ie people become impoverished.
Recently economists in Australia have come to the realisation that inflation by in large isn’t caused by regular citizens as much as it by large private profits from ceos and executive pay packets and tax avoidance of the companies in general.
Taxing the large corporate empires that sneak into Argentina and pay little to no tax would not only address the cause of Argentinas inflation it would reduce the debt and pay for vital services like medical, roads, education etc…
An example that comes to mind is all the foreign mining companies that literally steal the wealth out the ground of your country and pay nothing to the people that live there.
Like what currently happens in most countries with conservatard governments in power
But don’t tell the Yanks they’ll replace your government before you can whistle Yankee doodle
Gough Whitlam! Cough cough
Privatization is one of the recommended policies, but essentially every place that has implemented it isn’t better off now. Studies show that it works for increasing the performance of the enterprises, but making shareholders richer doesn’t really matter for standards of living. Even the IMF and IBRD have started to see issues with privatizing everything. Argentina will one day be stronger, but not as a result of these policies.
Anytime a government mentions privatising something, it sells a public asset for pennys in the dollar, which cuts quality of service to make a profit and as a result drives up its cost as the government that sold it pockets a commission to use as a war chest against its opposition.
It basically privatises the profit and socialises the debt. So instead of government debt (which is easier to pay off as governments don’t die like humans do and they get better rates of interest) it becomes public debt ie people become impoverished.
Recently economists in Australia have come to the realisation that inflation by in large isn’t caused by regular citizens as much as it by large private profits from ceos and executive pay packets and tax avoidance of the companies in general.
Taxing the large corporate empires that sneak into Argentina and pay little to no tax would not only address the cause of Argentinas inflation it would reduce the debt and pay for vital services like medical, roads, education etc…
An example that comes to mind is all the foreign mining companies that literally steal the wealth out the ground of your country and pay nothing to the people that live there.
Like what currently happens in most countries with conservatard governments in power
But don’t tell the Yanks they’ll replace your government before you can whistle Yankee doodle Gough Whitlam! Cough cough