Philobeado
Gold Member
Cry for Me, Argentina In the early 20th century,
Argentina was one of the richest countries in the World. While Great
Britain 's maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a
dominant position among the World's industrialized nations, only the United
States challenged Argentina for the position of the world's second-most
powerful economy.
It was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced
with navigable rivers and an accessible port system. Its level of
industrialization was higher than many European countries: railroads,
automobiles and telephones were commonplace.
In 1916, a new president was elected. H ipólito Irigoyen had formed a party
called *The Radicals* under the banner of "fundamental change" with an
appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen's changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance,
and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy.
Simply put, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country's
operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the
government's payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays
surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions. Put simply, it quickly
became under-funded, much like the United States Social Security and
Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of
Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his
charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
This targeted group "swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle
classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated."
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive
programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón
had been driven from office. But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for
economic realities" lived on. Argentina 's federal government continued to
spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989<http://academic.reed.edu/economics/course_pages/201_f06/Cases/money_a...>,
the final stage of a process characterized by "industrial protectionism,
redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state
intervention in the economy."
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money to pay off its public
debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the
Weimar Republic . Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the
country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina 's public pensions -- the equivalent of our Social
Security -- had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but
it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax
(VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues
based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector,
further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors pensions was
attempted. But, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government,
the monies replaced by Argentina 's defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, "government fiscal irresponsibility induced a national economic crisis
as severe as America 's Great Depression."
*In 1902 Argentina was one of the world's richest countries. Little more
than a hundred years later, *
* *
*it is poverty-stricken country, struggling to meet its debt obligations
amidst a drought
*We've seen this movie before. The Democrats' populist plans can't possibly
work, *
*because the government will bankrupt everything it touches. History
teaches us that ObamaCare and *
*unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters in the
future.
Today's Democrats are guilty of more than stupidity; *
*they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery. *
*And they will be long gone when it all implodes. *
*They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when the piper must ultimately
be paid.***
Argentina was one of the richest countries in the World. While Great
Britain 's maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a
dominant position among the World's industrialized nations, only the United
States challenged Argentina for the position of the world's second-most
powerful economy.
It was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced
with navigable rivers and an accessible port system. Its level of
industrialization was higher than many European countries: railroads,
automobiles and telephones were commonplace.
In 1916, a new president was elected. H ipólito Irigoyen had formed a party
called *The Radicals* under the banner of "fundamental change" with an
appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen's changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance,
and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy.
Simply put, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country's
operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the
government's payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays
surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions. Put simply, it quickly
became under-funded, much like the United States Social Security and
Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of
Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his
charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
This targeted group "swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle
classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated."
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive
programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón
had been driven from office. But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for
economic realities" lived on. Argentina 's federal government continued to
spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989<http://academic.reed.edu/economics/course_pages/201_f06/Cases/money_a...>,
the final stage of a process characterized by "industrial protectionism,
redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state
intervention in the economy."
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money to pay off its public
debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the
Weimar Republic . Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the
country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina 's public pensions -- the equivalent of our Social
Security -- had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but
it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax
(VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues
based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector,
further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors pensions was
attempted. But, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government,
the monies replaced by Argentina 's defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, "government fiscal irresponsibility induced a national economic crisis
as severe as America 's Great Depression."
*In 1902 Argentina was one of the world's richest countries. Little more
than a hundred years later, *
* *
*it is poverty-stricken country, struggling to meet its debt obligations
amidst a drought
*We've seen this movie before. The Democrats' populist plans can't possibly
work, *
*because the government will bankrupt everything it touches. History
teaches us that ObamaCare and *
*unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters in the
future.
Today's Democrats are guilty of more than stupidity; *
*they are enslaving future generations to poverty and misery. *
*And they will be long gone when it all implodes. *
*They will be as cold and dead as Juan Perón when the piper must ultimately
be paid.***
