Argentina is the World Champion of Soccer, But Not Much Else

Argentina used to be one of the world’s great economic powers. What happened? [The Rude Awakening] December 19, 2022 [WEBSITE]( | [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Argentina is the World Champion of Soccer, But Not Much Else - Lionel Messi finally gets the one trophy that eluded him his whole life. - Now that Messi has the World Cup, he has bragging rights over Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo. - But Argentina is still a hot mess economically. What happened? [A Kiss From Joe Biden]( I did not consent. You did not consent. But on March 9th, 2022, Joe Biden did something that will solidify his legacy as the greatest ‘Peeping Tom’ in history. A despicable act that could give him direct access to you... Your neighbors... And your children. That’s why I am urging you to get the details of this order and take action before it’s too late. [Click here for the shocking details](. [Click Here To Learn More]( [Sean Ring] SEAN RING Happy Monday on this first day of the holiday week before Christmas! I can’t wait until the presents get open in six days… but, of course, I’ve got late shopping to do. Last night, after frolicking in the park and throwing snowballs at each other, we belatedly started to watch the World Cup final between Argentina and France. I’m glad we missed most of the game since we got two periods of extra time, plus the penalty shootout. It’s like the NBA now. You get everything you need if you watch the last two minutes of those games. Be that as it may, Lionel Messi, the Argentine virtuoso, finally claimed the one team trophy that eluded him. I watched Messi play twice before. Once in Cape Town during the 2010 World Cup, when Ze Germans beat the pants off the Argies at Green Point Stadium. The second time was in Barcelona in early 2015, when he scored two sublime goals to help Barcelona come back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat Villareal at the Nou Camp. He’s a fantastic player, and I’m glad I’ve watched him live. Moreover, this debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and him seems settled, as Ronaldo will never win a World Cup. Actually, it’s a shame we didn’t get a Portugal-Argentina final. I would’ve loved that. [SJN] Credit: [NBC News]( But what dawned on me once Messi donned his see-through dishdasha (native Arab garb Messi’s wearing in the above pic) and hoisted the trophy was this question. In a country known for its great football, unmatched steaks, and fertile farmland, why is it such an economic mess? And I didn’t even mention its endless flow of smoky-eyed, mocha-skinned, raven-haired beauties! [SJN] Credit: [@22bet_official]( In this Rude, let’s get an idea why Argentina isn’t the King of the World, let alone South America. [[Proof] Facebook’s Plan to Take Over $14 Trillion Industry]( No matter how you feel about it, you can’t deny that Facebook has fundamentally changed the world we live in. Now Mark Zuckerberg is changing Facebook’s name and rebranding completely - and I’ve discovered [the key reason behind his SHOCKING decision.]( It’s all because of a new tech breakthrough that will revolutionize how human beings live, work and interact - just like Facebook did nearly 20 years ago. Now, one legendary tech researcher is giving away his #1 way to play it... long before Zuckerberg’s creation goes mainstream. [>> Click here for the urgent details NOW <<]( [Click Here To Learn More]( How It Started You may have heard this economic trivia question: Q: What’s the only country in the world that was one of the top ten largest economies in 1900 that is no longer in the top ten? A: Argentina It seems absurd because Argentina is the land of milk and honey. And from the 1880s until the Peronists took over in 1946, Argentina remained one of the world’s top ten economies. [SJN] Credit: [mises.org](. Who are those guys? The Peronists From [mises.org]( Peronism has been the signature Argentinian ideology since the first Peronist government in 1946, which was led by Juan Perón. Economically, Peronists are extreme New Dealers, protectionists, and monetary Keynesians (except for Carlos Menem's government and currency board). Socially, they have been progressive and authoritarian (their administrations have killed and arrested political opponents and restricted freedom of the press). Peronists represent approximately 27 percent of today's electorate. It sounds like the Uniparty we’ve got today, to be honest. Jests aside, Peronists are interventionists. Interventionism is always a problem, but it’s especially harmful when your economy is agrarian based. To put it simply, Argentina did two things very well: grow food and export it. Anytime that two-step has been interfered with, either externally or internally, Argentina has suffered dramatically. Argentina had the misfortune of electing the Peronists at the same time World War II ended when American aid went east instead of south. Because Argentina stayed neutral during World War II, it received zero Marshall Plan funds. That money went to rebuild Europe into America’s largest trading partner. The Argentinians were left with a lot of food but no export market. As a result, the economy collapsed. This was the first of many times that happened during the twentieth century. You know the next part. The Peronists' answer to every economic problem is printing money. Inflation When No One Wants Your Paper Annoying though it is, the world wants USD. Still. Even after all this printing. That’s why Chairman Pow has gotten away with as much printing as his errant predecessors. But nobody wants Argentinian pesos. Not even Argentines. They seem to prefer Bitcoin. Check out their crazy policy. [Daniel Lacalle wrote in]( in June this year: The consumer price index in Argentina experienced a year-on-year rise of 58 percent in April 2022, which means 2.9 percentage points above the variation registered last March. A real catastrophe. Inflation in Argentina is more than six times higher than in Uruguay, five times higher than in Chile, and four times higher than in Brazil and Paraguay, neighboring countries exposed to the same global problems. No, inflation in Argentina is not multicausal; it only has one cause: an extractive and confiscatory monetary policy. Printing pesos without control and without demand. Argentina balloons its monetary base to finance excessive, inflated, and destructive public spending. So far this year, the monetary base has increased by 43.83 percent, which is utter madness. Price inflation is 58.2 percent. In the last three years, the monetary base has increased by 179.73 percent and in ten years by more than 1,543.8 percent. That is an economic aberration, not “inclusive monetary policy,” as Axel Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires, called it. In the last ten years, the Argentine peso has lost 99 percent of its value against the dollar. This is an expropriation of the country’s wealth by printing useless pesos. Interestingly, Peronists in Argentina argue the US prints willy-nilly as well with no inflation. But the monetary base of the United States was growing at a rate of 9.9 percent, six times less than that of Argentina. The United States also suffers - the correct verb - from inflation of 7.1 percent (most recently). At the peak of the US money glut, the monetary base grew by 26.9 percent. In that same period, that of Argentina grew threefold—with decreasing demand for pesos, while the global and local demand for US dollars grew. The moral of the story is that you can print if your currency is still in demand and get away with it. But if no one’s buying your currency, the press must stop… or else. Wrap Up I’m happy for Lionel Messi. If France had won this World Cup, it would’ve been two in a row. And there would’ve been no living with them. But I’d love to see Argentina get back on its feet economically. The world would be a better place for it. And that beautiful country would finally return to where it once was: at the top of the heap. Until tomorrow. All the best, [Sean Ring] Sean Ring Editor, Rude Awakening [Paradigm]( ☰ ⊗ [ARCHIVE]( [ABOUT]( [Contact Us]( © 2022 Paradigm Press, LLC. 808 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21202. By submitting your email address, you consent to Paradigm Press, LLC. delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your Rude Awakening e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from Rude Awakening, feel free to [click here.]( Please note: the mailbox associated with this email address is not monitored, so do not reply to this message. We welcome comments or suggestions at feedback@rudeawakening.info. 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