Argentina shuns magic

With the election of Mauricio Macri, things are looking up for Argentina, with voters opting for realism over the "magical thinking” of the Kirchners.

A century ago, Argentina was set to join the global elite. It was richer than France, Germany and Italy. Its income per head stood at 92% of the average of 16 rich, developed states at the time. But "it never got better than this", says The Economist. Income per head is now 43% of the same 16, and Argentina is an object lesson in how poor governance can squander potential. A succession of coups ended 30 years ago, but relative stability has not helped growth, because governments have succumbed to protectionism and populism, resulting in constant crises, recessions and a bout of hyperinflation in the late 1980s.

Things may be looking up. Over the last month, the stockmarket has risen by 25% to a record high ahead of last weekend's presidential election victory by Mauricio Macri. The centre-right, market-orientated mayor of Buenos Aires aims to deliver a dose of orthodox economics after 13 years of interventionism and overspending by Christina Kirchner, and husband Nestor.

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Andrew Van Sickle
Editor, MoneyWeek

Andrew is the editor of MoneyWeek magazine. He grew up in Vienna and studied at the University of St Andrews, where he gained a first-class MA in geography & international relations.

After graduating he began to contribute to the foreign page of The Week and soon afterwards joined MoneyWeek at its inception in October 2000. He helped Merryn Somerset Webb establish it as Britain’s best-selling financial magazine, contributing to every section of the publication and specialising in macroeconomics and stockmarkets, before going part-time.

His freelance projects have included a 2009 relaunch of The Pharma Letter, where he covered corporate news and political developments in the German pharmaceuticals market for two years, and a multiyear stint as deputy editor of the Barclays account at Redwood, a marketing agency.

Andrew has been editing MoneyWeek since 2018, and continues to specialise in investment and news in German-speaking countries owing to his fluent command of the language.