Price of Big Mac suggests that the high dollar is transitory

Mc Donald’s famous burger is used to compare the exchange rates between countries. With this indicator, the dollar in Argentina appears quite misaligned to neighboring countries. This can be useful to temporarily adjust the external sector but it is still pending to achieve competitiveness in more genuine ways.

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Reduction of fiscal deficit was achieved thanks to inflation

The low fiscal deficit is good news but should be taken with caution since it was based on the inflationary surge. The reason is that the fiscal revenues follow the increase in prices while pensions and public salaries do the same but with delay. Sustainable fiscal balance can only be achieved through fiscal reforms.

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Brazil, as Argentina, assigns 12% of GDP to pensions

Bolsonaro shows arrogance in the approach to many problems in Brazil. But it manifests a striking ambiguity and timidity in the face of the severe pension crisis. As it happens in Argentina, opting for gradualism to face this challenge is the best way to make the government plan fail.

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More public pension spending than in Japan

To overcome the recurrence of economic crises, it is essential to clean up the public finances. This demands a more sustainable pension system. The reforms should consider that Argentina, a country still relatively young, spends on retirements more than much older societies.

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2 of every 3 people in favor of legalizing marijuana in USA

2019 will be a landmark in the development of the industrialization of marijuana. This derives from the fact that legalization, both for therapeutic and recreational use, is a worldwide trend. Argentina oscillates between the police persecution and the commercial agreements with foreign companies for its industrialization.

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The state covers only 85% of its expenses with genuine income

Argentina has spent more than half a century with the public sector spending above its public income. High and systematic fiscal deficit leads to money printing that generates inflation, unsustainable growth of the public debt and an anti-export environment that aggravates external constraints and hinders social development.

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Digital platform jobs already have social protection

A concern expressed by the G20 is access to social protection in jobs generated by digital platforms. In Argentina, universal coverage mechanisms operate; therefore, instead of devising restrictive regulations for these types of jobs, it would be desirable to expand them.   (more…)

1.3 millon jobs can be created by decentralizing collective bargaining

In Spain, after a severe fall in employment, an accelerated recovery was achieved. The key was to allow companies to negotiate labour rules that differed from those provided in sectoral collective agreements. Adopting a similar scheme in Argentina could make it possible to multiply formal jobs. (more…)