The Achievements and Failures of Argentina's Neo-liberal Economic Policies

The stability of an economic policy regime depends in large measure on either its successful authoritarian imposition or on the general acceptance by society of the distributional status quo of assets and/or income. Although Argentina's Convertibility Plan ("Currency Board" system) brought price stability and growth to the country, the inability or unwillingness of the government to attain a fiscal adjustment threatened its survival. The "fight for shares" in this "conflict society" was inherited from previous regimes. We show that this fight, previously left unresolved through inflationary finance, was subsequently left unresolved through the rapid growth of indebtedness under the Convertibility Plan. From 1999 onwards, the contradictions of the Plan became increasingly obvious and it was clear that the key to future stable economic growth was dependent on finding a way to turn the "conflict society" into a "consensus society". The construction of such a society is still a pending task for Argentina.