National
One of the most widely accepted policies in Argentina is the Universal Child Allowance. Government authorities claim it to be a major achievement and the opposition has no criticism, except some formalities like it was not approved by law but by an inferior norm, as a decree. Both parts overlook that, because of its rudimentary design, it is probably a social scheme that promotes the intergenerational reproduction of poverty rather than a sustained process of social progress. Other countries’ experiences and the finding obtained locally suggest that there are elements of the design and the management of the program that should be improved.
VER
In the last decade, Argentina has suffered an unprecedented setback in its oil production capacity. This has happened due to the systematic application of irrational regulations such as prohibitions, privileges, inadequate taxes and nontransparent subsidies. In this context, the YPF-Chevron agreement is neither the “salvation” nor a “surrendering” to foreign interests, but the continuation of the bad results since the same logic of wrong regulations is still present. In order to reverse the failure and achieve positive results better rules are needed.
VER
The high rate of money creation to finance the growing fiscal deficit has eroded the pesos’ value. Creating the CEDIN, the government is trying to impose an alternative domestic currency denominated in dollar searching to moderate the natural tendency of the population to use dollars instead of pesos. But the chances of success are low, not because of the opposition of some provincial governments, but the lack of confidence in the national government. The same reasons that destroyed the peso are the ones that now put in doubts the viability of the CEDIN.
VER
The Argentinean debt reduction is pointed out as an important achievement. However, compared with other countries of the region, debt reduction in Argentina has been nothing but modest. Nevertheless, what is most worrying is that debt reduction was based on institution destruction and accompanied by a rapid increase in unregistered debt. The experience of other Latin American countries shows that it is possible to cut down public debt with modernizing and rational policies that contribute to sustainable development.
VER
