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Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
Tue May 15, 2012, 02:30 PM May 2012

In South America, Separating Fact From Fiction

In South America, Separating Fact From Fiction
Tuesday, 15 May 2012 13:37 By Paul Krugman, Krugman & Co. | Op-Ed

The columnist Matt Yglesias, who just spent time in Argentina, recently wrote in Slate about the lessons of that country's recovery following its exit from the one-peso-one-dollar "convertibility law." As he says, it's a remarkable success story, and one that arguably holds lessons for the euro zone.

"Default and devaluation were hardly a party. They destroyed the country's banking system and wiped out many Argentines' savings," Mr. Yglesias wrote on May 1. "But it did work. Argentina has grown rapidly in subsequent years and its unemployment rate has fallen steadily to 6.7 percent, a rate we envy in the United States."

I'd just add something else: press coverage of Argentina is another one of those examples of how conventional wisdom can apparently make it impossible to get basic facts right. We keep getting stories about Ireland's recovery when there is, in fact, no recovery — but there should be, darn it, because they've done the "right" thing, so that's what we'll report.

And conversely, articles about Argentina are almost always very negative in tone — they're irresponsible, they're renationalizing some industries, they talk populist, so things must be going very badly. Never mind the data, shown on this page.

More:
http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/9152-in-south-america-separating-fact-from-fiction

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In South America, Separating Fact From Fiction (Original Post) Judi Lynn May 2012 OP
There is a Media Blackout on Good News from the Latin American countries.... bvar22 May 2012 #1
AMEN! bvar Thanks. nt. PufPuf23 May 2012 #2
No doubt the World Bank and IMF will do anything to grab back the power they've lost in LatAm. Judi Lynn May 2012 #3
Anything? bvar22 May 2012 #4

bvar22

(39,909 posts)
1. There is a Media Blackout on Good News from the Latin American countries....
Tue May 15, 2012, 02:48 PM
May 2012

...that have told the World Bank and the IMF to "Get Lost".
This isn't the kind of success story that the Media and the 1% want us to know about.

The Verboten Story of Argentina’s Post-Default Economic Success

"Even notice nothing is ever said in the mainstream media about Argentina’s economy, save that it had a big default? You’d never know the following about Argentina:

From 2002 onward, Argentina grown nearly twice as fast as Brazil, and has sported one of the highest growth rates in the world.

Its success is not dependent on a commodities boom

It has increased social spending from 10.3% of GDP to 14.2% of GDP

Inequality has fallen. Poverty and extreme poverty have fallen by roughly 2/3

What is particularly striking is how quickly Argentina’s economy rebounded after its default."

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/10/the-verboten-story-of-argentinas-economic-success.html



IIRC, things were pretty rough for a few years,
but many of these Latin Americans Countries were successful at wresting their countries from the hands of the 1%.
[font size=3]"The worst enemy of humanity is U.S. capitalism. That is what provokes uprisings like our own, a rebellion against a system, against a Neoliberal model, which is the representation of a savage capitalism. If the entire world doesn't acknowledge this reality, that nation states are not providing even minimally for health, education and nourishment, then each day the most fundamental human rights are being violated."[/font]
----Bolivian Reform President Evo Morales

[font size=1]Psst.FDR said much the same thing in 1944 with his Economic Bill of Rights,
but THAT was the OLD Democratic Party.[/font]

VIVA Democracy!
I pray we get some here soon!


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

Judi Lynn

(160,217 posts)
3. No doubt the World Bank and IMF will do anything to grab back the power they've lost in LatAm.
Tue May 15, 2012, 03:25 PM
May 2012

They all need to take a leisursely long walk off a short pier together.

They will NEVER be missed by anyone beyond the 1%.

Bravo, Evo Morales. May he live a long, and assassination-free life.

bvar22

(39,909 posts)
4. Anything?
Tue May 15, 2012, 04:56 PM
May 2012

Like backing the "Rebels" in Libya,
and getting the IMF Enforcement Arm (NATO) to help "remove" the main roadblock (Gaddafi) to the IMF plans for
raping Africa?

Despite his dictatorial megalomania,
Gaddafi WAS a committed Pan African (Africa for Africans, NOT Global Corporations),
and regularly undercut the IMFs attempts at Predatory Loans collateralize by Natural resources in under-developed African nations.
Adding insult to injury, Gaddafi used profits from Libyan Oil to undercut the IMF.
Not a shining example of NeoLiberal Economics...

...but ALL that is moot now.
Libya, a country that not so long ago had the highest standard of living in North Africa,
is NOW Wide Open to the IMF, along with all of North Africa.

IMF Recognizes Libya's National Transitional Council, Says Ready to Support its Efforts to Revive the Country's Economy

http://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pr/2011/pr11329.htm


Despite a UN resolution scrapping sanctions following the death of ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi, the process of unfreezing Libyan assets is lengthy because the money is spread out across many countries with different regulations.

"The promises have been made for the media," Elkaber said.

A NEW BANKING MODEL

He said he hoped the influence of international organizations would help shape a new Libyan model of banking, and the groundwork had already been laid by IMF and World Bank over the previous 2-3 years. (!!!!!)

"The IMF and WB have a roadmap and I would like to go ahead with the facelift. We need a strong central bank," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/03/us-libya-cbank-idUSTRE7A22K420111103



Prior to NATO joining the ongoing Civil War in Libya on the side of "The Rebels",
"Libya was not in debt to international bankers. It did not borrow cash from the International Monetary Fund for any "structural adjustment". It used oil money for social services - including the Great Man Made River project, and investment/aid to sub-Saharan countries. Its independent central bank was not manipulated by the Western financial system. All in all a very bad example for the developing world.”

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD27Ak01.html



...and NOW we know the REAL reason for the US "Intervention" in Libya.
The Disaster Capitalists piggy-backed on the legitimate Arab Spring Uprisings to join an ongoing Civil War in Libya,
taking sides with "The Rebels" in Tripoli that had admitted ties to Al Qaeda,
but none of that is important when the 1% sees an opportunity to Cash In on Human Misery & Death.


You will know them by their WORKS,
not by their excuses.
[font size=5 color=green]Solidarity99![/font][font size=2 color=green]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------[/center]

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