News of opinion

For Argentina, reaching a debt deal was the easy part

10-08-2020 15:50 Many analysts foresee the IMF agreeing to reschedule the loan to its biggest debtor. Nonetheless, the Fund’s imprimatur will come with conditions.

by Mac Margolis

Mohamed A. El-Erian: Argentina's debt proposal deserves support

07-07-2020 01:35 It would be in neither side's long-term interest to allow the theoretical best to be the enemy of the attainable good – what is now on the table warrants support by both Argentina and its creditors.

Helicopter money won’t ease Latin America’s pandemic pain

08-05-2020 09:25 Along with Covid-19, a fever of wonkery has broken out over how to reverse the collective economic contraction and to carry on once the health emergency has passed. As the worst of the pandemic is yet to come.

by Mac Margolis

I'm a small business owner in the US – will I get a coronavirus bailout too?

01-05-2020 12:16 The US government’s US$350-billion loan fund has run dry – yet many big businesses have been awarded millions.

by * Reprinted with kind permission from the author.

Labour’s love not lost, but whither jobs?

18-04-2020 10:41 The mission impossible of defending employment against the pandemic will make the Labour, Employment and Social Security Ministry a hot seat in the months and years to come.

by Michael Soltys

The world prostrate before its new overlord

18-04-2020 10:23 Without a working economy, no society – no matter how kind-hearted its members and benevolent its leaders – will be able to care for those who fall sick, whether from the coronavirus or many other ailments.

by James Neilson

We don’t have what it takes to face this economic crisis

11-04-2020 08:18 It is difficult to envision how Argentina, the region and the world will come out of this mess unless a generalised, global set of solutions is put on the table.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

Between a Rocca and a hard place

04-04-2020 09:54 The trade unions still consider themselves to be the backbone of Peronism and Fernández is leaning heavily on the labour machine to pull through the crisis.

by Martín Gambarotta

When togetherness is anti-social

28-03-2020 11:37 Life and the economy are intertwined. Without money, people starve. In an unpleasantly short time, desperation can breed violent anarchy.

by James Neilson

Alberto the anchorman

28-03-2020 11:25 With millions staying at home, watching television is now a national sport once again, and the president has turned himself into the anchorman of an anxious nation.

by Martín Gambarotta

Surveys show strong support for Fernández's handling of virus crisis

27-03-2020 15:26 Although economic concerns run high among the Argentine population, polling suggests most Argentines approve of Peronist leader's measures to mitigate the harms of Covid-19.

by Jennifer Heiman

The world turned upside down

21-03-2020 10:28 How long can this cooperative mood, which reportedly prevails in most countries, last?

by James Neilson

The oil shock of 2020 appears to be here – and the pain could be wide and deep

16-03-2020 10:53 The world is again undergoing an oil shock. This is a big deal, not only for the global economy, but for geopolitics, the future of transport and efforts to mitigate climate change.

The human herd stalked by a virus

14-03-2020 10:19 So far, Argentina has been relatively free of infection from this particular virus, but Alberto Fernández’s government has decided to join the rest of the world and take suitably stringent measures.

by James Neilson

Political unprisoners

23-02-2020 16:53 The notion that some people are entitled to remain above the law is shared, or regarded as unimportant, by such a large proportion of the electorate that disabusing it seems well-nigh impossible.

by James Neilson

Man City’s ban sparks dreams of prodigal sons

23-02-2020 16:41 UEFA bombshell greeted with glee in Argentina, but calm down, the top stars are not returning home anytime soon.

by Dan Edwards

Argentina’s government needs to speak with one voice on debt

21-02-2020 08:38 Before Argentina can come up with a solid economic plan, it needs a credible political pact. That takes a government which speaks with one voice, mutes the palace incendiaries and treats debt and economic recovery not as a passion play but as part of a national business plan. 

by Mac Margolis

Transport taken off the fast track

15-02-2020 11:29 As a Radical backed by one of the last entries into the Frente de Todos coalition, Mario Meoni seems to lack the political momentum to make any footprint, while the fiscal pressures from the debt crisis dominating the agenda are already making themselves felt.

by Michael Soltys

All is not quiet on the debt restructuring front

08-02-2020 10:15 Debt is Argentina’s disease. President Alberto Fernández, a Peronist, has said that the nation is now in “intensive care” treatment for its debt addiction. The president has also likened trying to restructure Argentina’s mammoth debt to playing poker with the good fellas. You try pulling a convincing poker face while in intensive care without your cards falling to the ground.

by Martín Gambarotta

A true Middle East peace plan, or terms of surrender?

01-02-2020 09:59 Too many people view the conflict in terms of ideological dreams and agendas, paying little heed to the real needs of people on the ground, Israeli and Palestinian alike.