El Opinador Compulsivo

Mary Anastasia O'Grady sobre la vuelta argentina al mercado voluntario de deuda:

Argentina, the reigning world champion of debt default, wants to get back into the international credit markets. Given the antimarket agenda that President Néstor Kirchner and his Peronist Party have imposed on the economy since 2003, that's a scary thought. Here's a scarier one: The International Monetary Fund seems desperate to play a role in Argentina's debut as a rehabilitated deadbeat.

Anyone who watched the collapse of Argentina under IMF guidance seven years ago understands that these two parties -- like an addict and an enabler -- deserve each other. But someone should stop the fund before it "helps" again. Writing itself into the next chapter of adventures in Peronist populism is neither necessary nor desirable.

Better to let the gauchos design and execute their own economic policy. Lenders will then assess Argentine risk -- without the distortions caused by an IMF imprimatur -- and charge an appropriate premium. And politicians won't be tempted to rely on IMF credit lines to close spending shortfalls. If the whole thing comes a cropper, Argentines can burn effigies of their own this time.