News of analysis

Malaysia’s capital control (cepo) success – a journey beginning in Buenos Aires

19-04-2025 06:03 Malaysia’s success highlights the importance of policy credibility, clarity of purpose and exit strategy in the use of capital controls.

POLITICS & ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Milei dreams of re-election – with IMF's help

19-04-2025 06:00 Whether signing an IMF deal represents a “day of liberation” or one of mourning, it lifts a cloud of uncertainty and allows the political ecosystem to focus on upcoming elections.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Milei and the bicycle temptation

19-04-2025 06:00 The Milei government is confident it can make it to the midterm elections in October without major volatility. But this relative calm — won by force of debt — should not obscure the storm that was brewing before the cash injection.

by Marcelo J. García

Campaign comments

First day of the rest of the year

19-04-2025 06:00 Economists have hailed the exit from the cepo as a milestone but this columnist hesitates to consider it an electoral game-changer – there is both too much and too little time for that.

by Michael Soltys

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei risks reigniting inflation by floating Argentina’s peso

16-04-2025 12:35 Decision to ease currency controls is having an impact in the real economy. Retailers and importers are cautiously adjusting their prices as the peso weakens. And some fear it could spark inflation.

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

IMF bets billions on Milei’s chainsaw to avert past debacles

13-04-2025 08:50 Frontloading disbursements is a controversial move that increases the IMF’s exposure to its biggest debtor, just as Milei faces the same policy dilemmas that have doomed his predecessors.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei gains 'breathing room' from his ties with Trump

12-04-2025 11:54 The support President Milei has garnered from the Trump administration stands in stark contrast to the mounting challenges on the home front.

by Pablo Varela

Global politics – Analysis

Trump, Milei and how to lose the trust of markets and voters

12-04-2025 05:37 Trump stepped back from the edge, at least momentarily, even though he is keeping his finger on the trigger.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Careful Javier, the ‘caste’ smells blood

12-04-2025 05:29 Legislators who had until now been cooperative or aloof toward confrontation with Milei are changing their tune, in line with what they hear from their constituencies.

by Marcelo J. García

Campaign comments

And so it begins

12-04-2025 05:22 This year’s midterm voting begins tomorrow in the major province of Santa Fe with the constituent assembly elections.

by Michael Soltys

BLOOMBERG - FEATURE

Milei tries erasing Argentina’s history to lure foreign investment

08-04-2025 09:04 Argentina’s president is desperate to woo foreign investors. But he's had more success tearing down physical symbols of the old guard than untangling the web of red tape it left behind.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Milei's private dinners, cash and political transparency

07-04-2025 11:09 What's at stake in a US$20,000-steaks case...

Analysing Argentina

Can Cristina Fernández de Kirchner be the next Donald Trump?

05-04-2025 06:13 It is difficult to imagine a Fernández de Kirchner comeback à la Trump. Or rather, her comeback has already happened, no matter how much she denies it

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS & ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Milei: a tourist in Mar-a-Lago

05-04-2025 06:10 As Donald Trump rattles up the world with his tariffs, things are heating up domestically for President Javier Milei.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

POVERTY ASSESSMENT

‘Not much to celebrate’ despite fall in poverty, says expert

01-04-2025 13:13 Leading poverty expert Agustín Salvia, of UCA’s prestigious social debt observatory, digs into the figures after INDEC reports dramatic fall in numbers of poor.

Analysing Argentina

Will Elon Musk’s plumber pay for Milei’s trips abroad?

29-03-2025 06:11 There is reason behind the IMF’s decision to throw its weight behind President Milei, which means partnering with his political objectives too.

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Tales of the blue (dollar)

29-03-2025 06:11 Milei and Caputo have promised to lift the 'cepo' currency controls. It won’t signal the end of the 'blue,' but it should reduce its importance and the wild fluctuations that voraciously mint millionaires and, at the same speed, erase their fortunes.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Traders bet on weaker peso as Milei’s IMF deal looms

26-03-2025 21:39 Investors see Argentina’s peso on the verge of devaluation again, but for Javier Milei, such a step could prove costly – especially ahead of midterm elections in October.

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Autumn is coming for Javier Milei

22-03-2025 07:41 Last week, we discussed how an electoral agreement with the governor of Chaco signalled a possible pattern. This week, Chaco Governor Leandro Zdero received a 120-billion-peso transfer from the federal government. Just don’t tell the IMF.

by Marcelo J. García

ANALYSIS: SHOCK THERAPY

Milei’s inflation miracle distorted by obsolete items in index

19-03-2025 17:12 Calls are getting louder for President Javier Milei’s government to redo the make-up of the consumer price index for the first time in two decades.

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Violence and institutional informality

15-03-2025 07:29 There are serious questions as to what happened on the streets outside Congress, but it clearly helped to distract the attention away from what was going on inside Congress and in the troubled port city of Bahía Blanca.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Transportation electrification is coming, but will it spark a broader shift?

11-03-2025 11:19 From the heart of Buenos Aires to remote corners of Patagonia, the electrification of transportation is gaining momentum, driven by a convergence of innovation, government support and a broad push for modernisation.

by Heliana Veronica Higbie

POLITICS: CORRIDORS OF POWER

Santiago Caputo’s consecutive errors, government accelerates campaign mode

05-03-2025 10:25 Run of missteps by Javier Milei’s star spin doctor causes problems for the President.

by Ramón Indart

ANALYSIS

Milei feels the heat of the $LIBRA scandal

01-03-2025 07:18 Milei is doubling down. Not only does he deny any wrongdoing, he’s also trying to push forward with his own agenda.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Flooding the zone might drown the Milei administration

01-03-2025 05:24 The fragility of Argentina’s economy demands sobriety and steadiness — something that zone-flooders may lack as they attempt to sow confusion.

by Marcelo J. García

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Hidden by crypto

22-02-2025 06:59 The Once train crash was technically a railway accident far more frequently dubbed a tragedy and a crime in not a few eyes – few transport disasters have been so heavily politicised even if two previous rail accidents had claimed more lives.

by Michael Soltys

Analysing Argentina

Milei’s long honeymoon is over, what happens next?

22-02-2025 06:32 For the first time since December 2023, Milei and his people lost control of the narrative … more than ever, Milei now relies on the success of his economic programme.

by Marcelo J. García

As I see it

Milei caught in a crypto spider web

22-02-2025 06:09 By associating himself with a cosmopolitan bunch of chancers, Milei has raised serious questions about the government he leads.

by James Neilson

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Milei and the ‘$LIBRA’ scandal: How far does it go?

19-02-2025 15:20 Milei has a track record of reckless stances on troubled digital ventures. The consequences of the ‘$LIBRA’ scandal could be unpredictable and perhaps, it has only just begun.

by Javier Calvo

As I see it

A cyberpunk at the helm

15-02-2025 06:10 Is Milei an astute operator who is merely playing the role of a foul-mouthed cyberpunk or is he simply showing the world the kind of person he really is?

by James Neilson

ANALYSING ARGENTINA

Cavallo, Milei and the elephant in the room

15-02-2025 06:08 Besides numbers, markets measure moods and tones. And the tone they got from President Javier Milei this week may not have been reassuring.

by Marcelo J. García

POLITICS & ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Milei’s week of fury

15-02-2025 06:05 The market has doubts as to whether Milei and Caputo can sustain what is clearly a super strong peso, forcing them to come out publicly to defend their policy choices. The level of aggression with which they have defended their position suggests that the risks to their strategy are real.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Primaries (time and) Again Serve Oppositions

15-02-2025 06:05 Introduced little more than 15 years ago for less than noble reasons and widely rejected today as a waste of time and money, the PASO primaries will not be missed by many.

by Michael Soltys

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Woke no joke

08-02-2025 06:55 “Woke” has become a pejorative for anything the new right considers excessively progressive, but too few people here seem to have any precise idea what it means.

Analysing Argentina

Can Kicillof break the spell?

08-02-2025 06:11 If the current political trajectory stands, Kicillof would face an uphill battle … but Argentina has shown in recent years that "impossible" is not in the local political dictionary.

by Marcelo J. García

Politics – Analysis

Milei the copycat

08-02-2025 06:06 Pegging Argentina’s foreign policy to the United States is a risky strategy.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Trump and Gaza: No laughing matter

07-02-2025 10:01 What Trump wants to happen in Gaza is downright dangerous and could have dire consequences for a region that has triggered one war after another for decades.

by David Smith

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

From PRO to Cambiemos… to Juntos por el Cambio or Juntos?

01-02-2025 08:56 Milei’s first year in office has indicated the need for the ex-members of Juntos por el Cambio to recover their identity.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

Analysing Argentina

Macri is fighting for his life – he will lose

01-02-2025 08:48 Mauricio Macri is making a desperate attempt to keep his political structure alive — and under his wing.

by Marcelo J. García

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Carnal relations and the forces of heaven

01-02-2025 06:05 The Menem Presidency was the closest thing to providing a template for the disruptive novelty of Milei’s administration but the return of Trump to the White House invites new comparisons.

by Michael Soltys

ECONOMY – ANALYSIS

Argentina and the IMF – scenarios for a possible new agreement

28-01-2025 10:04 Milei government and IMF continue to fine-tune a future agreement which is likely to include a remittance of some US$11 billion to bolster Central Bank coffers, allowing Argentina to remove the ‘cepo’ currency and capital controls.

by Gonzalo Martínez

Analysing Argentina

Milei’s learning curve

25-01-2025 06:48 Milei’s learning curve should take note from his predecessors: too much orthodoxy or unorthodoxy leads to trouble.

by Marcelo J. García

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Milei and Trump: On Nazis, outsiders and politicians

25-01-2025 06:21 Trump’s re-election blows wind into the sails of the new right, which is seeking to absolutely dismantle progressivism.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Argentina's economy grew more than expected in November

23-01-2025 17:42 Economic activity rose 0.9% from October, according to INDEC data.

BLOOMBERG - ANALYSIS

Milei back in Davos after racking up victories in Argentina

21-01-2025 09:39 Argentina's president has achieved what few considered possible just a year ago. Will he be able to overcome even bigger challenges in 2025?

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

The 86th victim

18-01-2025 06:41 Ten years later, Argentine society is still owed an explanation of a bafflingly mysterious death.

by Michael Soltys

POLITICS – ANALYSIS

Milei's Marxist culture wars

18-01-2025 06:33 The rise of characters such as Donald Trump in the US, and Milei here in Argentina, is directly tied to their level of political incorrectness and they’ve become equally savage in pushing culturally as far as they can in the other direction.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

OPINION & ANALYSIS

What the heck is going on with Mark Zuckerberg?

11-01-2025 06:56 There are few doubts that the Silicon Valley elite would benefit from a US president who will ease the regulatory pressure at home while supporting them in their overseas endeavours, particularly one like Trump who has gone on the offensive against the EU.

by Agustino Fontevecchia