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Argentina Becomes Venezuela With The Passage Of This Law
Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,
In the pantheon of utter political stupidity in our time, the competition is pretty fierce to see who ranks #1.
But I have to imagine that, even with so many rivals, Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner makes a pretty compelling argument to be the champion.
And though the productive class of Argentina is no stranger to being vilified by a populist government whose grasp on power rests on praising the dignity of poverty, Cristina has managed to take things to an entirely new level.
Under this new law, the government will have the honorable burden of defending consumers from greedy producers.
Companies are now prohibited from setting their prices too high, generating too much profit, or producing too little.
And unlike the country’s astronomically high taxes (which at least have defined numbers and penalties), the new supply law doesn’t even say what is meant by too high, too many, or too little.
It simply reinforces the government’s unchecked power to arbitrarily audit, fine, shut down, and expropriate production of private companies.
Argentina’s government has already been maintaining “voluntary” price controls on over 400 consumer products for the past year, all in the name of combating the inflation that they themselves created.
And as any high school economics student can tell you, price controls create… SHORTAGES. Duh.
Needless to say, local production of these staple consumer products has dropped as a result of price controls. And given the pitiful state of the peso, they’re too expensive to import.
And anyone who can actually get their hands on these products—sugar, cooking oil, canned fruits, cleaning products, etc. often strolls across the land borders into Paraguay and Brazil where they are sold at competitive market prices.
Argentina’s new law of clamping down supply-side control echoes Venezuela’s 2011 “Fair Price and Cost Law”, which instead of reigning in inflation has reduced the Bolivarian state to the continent’s preeminent example of failure
Throngs of Venezuelans now line up around the block for days to buy single-ply toilet paper at a “fair” price. Argentina is not far behind.
This isn’t even about the country being “leftist” or “socialist”.
What has destroyed the country is not the high taxes or government waste (although that certainly doesn’t help). Argentina shoots itself in the foot by passing laws that call into question legal certainty and basic property rights.
All of this exacerbates unquantifiable country risk and the inability for businesses and individuals to plan ahead—in any environment.
If you think Argentina is an aberration, think again.
Just as Argentina used to be one of the richest places in the world and Buenos Aires competed with New York for the brightest and most talented minds on the planet, many Western countries are going down the same road.
They create absurd and confiscatory tax systems and regulations. They condemn companies who have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders – not governments – and follow THEIR OWN LAWS to legally minimize their tax obligations.
The seize, steal, kill and regulate every aspect of our private and economic lives. And they even have to resort to such comical measures as in Europe where they now count illegal activities such as spending on drugs and prostitutes as part of the GDP to maintain the illusion of economic growth.
All this uncertainty pushes people and businesses out the door. No one wants to deal with long-term stability issues when the next debt-ceiling debacle is always just around the corner, and when you have to look out for any number of three-letter agencies to reprimand you for doing business.
Argentina is a sign of things to come. Are you willing to wait for when your government decides that your profits are too high?
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I've always wondered why Argentina is such a mess. It wasn't always so. In fact about 100 years ago there was an expression in Europe 'as rich as an Argentine'. Their genetic makeup is almost totally European (Spanish and Italian mainly but with a fair sprinkiling of Germans as well) and these 'home' countries do so much better economically while being endowed with far fewer natural resources.
Monty, in 1901 (when Australia became a nation) the Australians and Argentinians vied with each other for the worlds highest GDP per capita. There are also many Argentinians of British stock.
Didn't know that effendi but at least the Ozzies have kept very much to the top table. Mind you whether that will continue for long given that the demographics are being fundamentally undermined by vast numbers of Orientals and Africans swarming in. Have you been to Sidney in the last few years?
Here's an interesting link that shows how the transformation came about. Same for most other White countries in fact,. http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2014/01/the-jewish-war-on-white-aus...
Jack Burton,
well said.
And that is true of any and all nations.
Yet, it's all fucked up.
The systems we have, both lefty and righty, tend to facism either through state melding with corporatism or corporates becoming the state.
I wonder wether the fight is not between the left and right, because at the edges they are the same, more between the Middle Way and the Facist Way
Is there such a thing as Caring Facism or Isolational Middleists.
I'm at the very bottom of my society.
What are my options ?
It's the economy stupid.
I read "Atlas Shrugged" in college a long time ago, well it was in the reign of Prince Carter, thought it was fiction almost to fantasy.
Now it feels all too much like reality. When does the train get trapped in the tunnel.
In the aftermath of the '80's Falklands/Malvinas war,the IMF stepped in with a money bazooka (after the junta was booted).
The Air Force officers shouted collectively,"We wanna be paid out first!". Unbelievable....
The Central bankers have always worried about Argentina because they are almost self-sufficient in fuel and food.
The purchasers of defaulted bonds thought because the bonds were issued with NY legal backing that they would get preferential treatment.
Anyone who buys bonds from a south american country has to assume some risk,for the high yield involved (and devaluations).
Tyler,with the movement in the oil prices,why don't you do a huge article on those CAT-E cold fusion reactors?
Goose the WTI market! GO CAPITALISM! Nothing like a little fear in the system for the VIX.....
There is a lot of hype about Rossi.
If this technology is viable then great, although I don't believe we have found the golden goose quite yet.
Real commercialisable evidence is required.
Directive 10-289
In the name of the general welfare, to protect the people's security, to achieve full equality and total stability, it is decreed for the duration of the national emergency that:
Point One. All workers, wage earners and employees of any kind whatsoever shall henceforth be attached to their jobs and shall not leave nor be dismissed nor change employment, under penalty of a term in jail. The penalty shall be determined by the Unification Board, such Board to be appointed by the Bureau of Economic Planning and National Resources. All persons reaching the age of twenty-one shall report to the Unification Board, which shall assign them to where, in its opinion, their services will best serve the interests of the nation.
Point Two. All industrial, commercial, manufacturing and business establishments of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth remain in operation, and the owners of such establishments shall not quit nor leave nor retire, nor close, sell or transfer their business, under penalty of the nationalization of their establishment and of any and all of their property.
Point Three. All patents and copyrights, pertaining to any devices, inventions, formulas, processes and works of any nature whatsoever, shall be turned over to the nation as a patriotic emergency gift by means of Gift Certificates to be signed voluntarily by the owners of all such patents and copyrights. The Unification Board shall then license the use of such patents and copyrights to all applicants, equally and without discrimination, for the purpose of eliminating monopolistic practices, discarding obsolete products and making the best available to the whole nation. No trademarks, brand names or copyrighted titles shall be used. Every formerly patented product shall be known by a new name and sold by all manufacturers under the same name, such name to be selected by the Unification Board. All private trademarks and brand names are hereby abolished.
Point Four. No new devices, inventions, products, or goods of any nature whatsoever, not now on the market, shall be produced, invented, manufactured or sold after the date of this directive. The Office of Patents and Copyrights is hereby suspended.
Point Five. Every establishment, concern, corporation or person engaged in production of any nature whatsoever shall henceforth produce the same amount of goods per year as it, they or he produced during the Basic Year, no more and no less. The year to be known as the Basic or Yardstick Year is to be the year ending on the date of this directive. Over or under production shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board.
Point Six. Every person of any age, sex, class or income, shall henceforth spend the same amount of money on the purchase of goods per year as he or she spent during the Basic Year, no more and no less. Over or under purchasing shall be fined, such fines to be determined by the Unification Board.
Point Seven. All wages, prices, salaries, dividends, profits, interest rates and forms of income of any nature whatsoever, shall be frozen at their present figures, as of the date of this directive.
Point Eight. All cases arising from and rules not specifically provided for in this directive, shall be settled and determined by the Unification Board, whose decisions will be final.
OK, tell us if this is ARG, VNZ or somewhere else...Hitler, perhaps? Hollande? Stalin? Mao? FDR?
Atlas Shrugged. A must read. It will either resonate with you deeply and put today's world in context or you won't agree with it at all. Either way, it should be read. It is a brilliant work. You can skip all the love story bs. She made an attempt at veiling political/economic philosophy in a love story.
I guess they didn't print the book in Spanish...
I find it astounding that anyone in the US, whose Government passed the Patriot Act and the NDAA, and whose President can murder anyone he wants, criticize the laws of any other country.