The Challenge Rambles and riff raff about all this and that

16Nov/073

It’s the lies

I've been quite moderate on this blog. I have not posted rants against ISPs, mobile companies and other things to keep this place focused and peaceful. Also keeping a behavior shows respect to my blogroll and the company I work for.

From time to time events kill the "English Lord" that posts here and give way to the Viking in me. Let the villages burn.

I have posted before on the inflationary conditions in Argentina. I have also posted on how the government tweaks the figures. This has not changed, it has gotten worst.

One of the few things that can really upset me is being treated like an idiot. I might not be the smartest guy on the room, but I most certainly passed 3rd grade math. And it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that when comparing the way my expenses go up and the figures the Government states aren't even on the same league. According to the government the expected increase on inflation is 9.8%; private analysts state it will be around 20%, my experience tells me they both fall short.

Some examples: Starting in December my rent will go up by 47%. No, I'm not moving to a larger flat or a fancier neighborhood; I'm staying at the same exact apartment. Need another example? For the past 7 months I've made the same monthly grocery store list (thanks to technology it is saved on my e-grocery account). Over that period it has increased 25%. 7 Months, out of 11 in the year.

So as if the inflation didn't already put enough stress into everybody's psyche, one has to cope with the lies. In our faces, every day, on every newspaper and every TV news program.

The side effects of the inflation are also quite scary. Argentina's current "boom" relies on the sole fact of a cheap currency opposed to the US dollar or the Euro. There haven't been any substantial investments in infrastructure, R&D or education for the country to be competitive for different reasons. As inflation increases, it puts pressure on salaries which detriment that unique competitive advantage. The risk resides on the government assuming that the only way out is to further depreciate the peso, which would, in turn yield more inflation.

I shall be pessimist; but I see no win in this situation. Either way it's going to be nasty, and I don't trust that those in charge (or soon to be in charge) are smart and bold enough to reverse the situation.

With some luck I'll be wrong and I'll have to eat my words. Let's hope that happens, my pride is not that big.

Filed under: Argentina, personal Leave a comment
  • http://supplespub.com Tim

    I can’t imagine what that is like. Nothing (well, almost nothing) frustrates me more than being entirely powerless about something.

  • Mark

    Esteban,

    I think we all struggle to feel that we are making progress in life, that one day is better than the next. It seems our very global economy is somewhat of a treadmill we are all running upon. Inflation is one of those things that seems to make the belt move faster against us – we must do more just to keep our relative position, let alone to move forward.

    Sorry to hear that things are moving against you to such degree. I feel many of the same things here, but the appear in different forms. We are overbuilding – all the growth is one of the few thriving engines of our economy, and also our destructor. The increases in housing, bring more people, and require more and more infrastructure – roads, schools, water. As the burden increases, so do the taxes, fees, and restrictions. We cut down the trees that convert C02 to O2, to make way for more development, more shopping, etc. Then our leaders wring their hands and talk about global warming, and the scarcity of water resources (locally). Yet they continue to try to attract people to the area, offering incentives to companies to move here, set up operations, bring more people.

    Our media tends to talk about the issues around the symptoms of the problem – global warming, oil price and dependence, food production, water conservation, recylcing, rising health care costs, etc. These are just symptoms of the underlying problem – every increasing number of people drawing upon dwindling resources.

    We can use technology to offset this a bit, but it just means we can sustain more people with the given resources. It is not infinitely extendable.

    The problem is macro – too many people.

  • http://blog.estebanglas.com Esteban Glas

    I agree absolutely, Mark. Although it is a struggle I wanted to enhance the point that I can cope with things such as inflation (not easy, but we handle), but I can’t and I’m not willing to cope with the .gov and the media telling lies to me.

  • http://blog.estebanglas.com.ar/2008/06/idiocy-on-the-method/ The Challenge » Idiocy on the method

    [...] and deceit are two of the favorite tools used by Cristina Kirchner. I have posted before how they lie to the general public about inflation. Now even the economist has taken up that [...]

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