TRAVERSE 167
FEATURE
A SLOW KILL
ECONOMY
We ’ d been warned to be careful as we rode around the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires . Apparently the economy could go into freefall , and we ’ d be trapped amongst protests .
This was January 2023 , and believing such a statement that seemed ill-informed to the point of verging on ignorant would ’ ve been irresponsible and outrageous however , a Monday morning rounding of the local cash machines ( ATMs ) was proving a degree of accuracy that did enforce a level of worry . It was a similar story when it came to obtaining fuel , almost every service station was out , and we were told that “ perhaps deliveries would come later in the week ”.
Amongst a city that seemed so prosperous , where new construction was taking place , former dockyards had been transformed into luxurious apartments , and high-end restaurants were full , it was hard to imagine an economy in a slide that resembled freefall . Yet that was Argentina , an economy that has been sliding since the 1950s with ever increasing pace .
The early twentieth century saw Argentina ’ s economy as one of the strongest in the world , amongst the top ten for wealth per capita , vastly different to today where it is estimated that forty percent of the population live in poverty , driven by a cycle of economic mismanagement that can be traced to the 1950s .
In these current times of economic uncertainty driven
TRAVERSE 167