La enfermedad argentina

Cómo nos ven desde afuera. No se preocupen, esta vez seguro que sale bien:

Meanwhile, Cristina Kirchner faces a shrinking budget surplus, an obstacle that no populist government has overcome since Peron brought about the Argentine welfare state. The more the government hands out—which it must to appease its constituents—the worse inflation becomes and the worse the budget constraints become, depleting what had been steadily accruing foreign reserves. All the while, of course, the concentration of power in a single executive upon whom millions depend further wears away at the country's thinning democracy.

Without sapient adjustments to the current economic strategy—or perhaps even with them—the time for a slowdown or even a crash is overdue. The explosive global economy may permit an unusually long boom, but sooner rather than later the Argentinean economy will catch up with the president-elect.

Cristina has therefore won the responsibility of steering a very optimistic boat through decidedly miserable waters. Inflation, an energy crunch, and spiraling violence will besiege her in a matter of months if not weeks. Her election to the presidency without proffering even a hair-brained solution to these issues bodes ill for what ought to be a very robust and wealthy democracy.