TEHRAN, Aug 02 - Buenos Aires was a boomtown in the 1880s, as Argentina’s abundant natural resources helped fund opulent mansions, Parisian boulevards and Utopian plazas.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Boom turned to monumental bust in an 1890 crisis studied by economic historians as the biggest sovereign-debt meltdown of the century.
That cycle of misery lies at the root of the country’s economic and political upheaval to the present day, and as Patrick Gillespie reports, is set to dominate this year’s presidential elections. Primaries are set for Aug. 11.
President Mauricio Macri is investors’ clear favorite, despite inflation running at about 40% and the economy still in recession after a record $56 billion International Monetary Fund bailout.
They fear his main opponent, Alberto Fernandez, isn’t the moderate he claims to be, a concern magnified by his choice of running mate: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, the former president. She is blamed by her opponents for alienating Argentina internationally by driving the economy into the ground, tampering with official statistics and refusing to pay debt holders — leaving Macri to pick up the pieces.
But that’s not necessarily how voters see it: Polls show the race is wide open.
Even for Argentines used to roller-coaster politics, this election looks decidedly bumpy.
Source: Bloomberg
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