News of and that reminds me

Mightier than the dollar

24-07-2021 00:34 The successive fates of the austral and convertibility would suggest that Argentina’s currency is like Icarus – the closer it flies to the sun, the harder the economy crashes.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Facundo Manes: A nerve specialist for a nervous country?

17-07-2021 11:09 Lots of excited talk about Facundo Manes as an electoral game-changer, but has he given any hint as to the concrete policy proposals the opposition should be offering?

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Reutemann: A life in multispeed

09-07-2021 22:26 Although never losing an election, whether for governor or senator, all in his native province of Santa Fe, the abiding memory of Reutemann’s political career will always be ducking a presidential run in 2003, thus effectively bequeathing Kirchnerismo to this country.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

PASO = Pushing A Single Option

03-07-2021 23:13 The attitude that candidacies should be defined by political factions negotiating a single list, rather than the choice of the electorate at large, quite simply insults the citizenry of a democratic society.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me

Hugo Chávez, I'll go somewhere else

26-06-2021 00:15 Plenty of opinions on Venezuela here in Argentina, ranging from slavish adoration of the ruling ideology to a rather more prevalent demonisation. Neither is recommended.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me…

Grabbing the wealth of health by stealth

19-06-2021 09:51 Replacing Argentina’s fragmented system with a comprehensive public health system is highly rational in principle and there are some positive examples abroad – but what are the chances of these being emulated under the current government?

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me…

Perusing Peru

12-06-2021 00:11 Political gridlock and Odebrecht corruption were the main causes of Peru’s downturn accelerated by PPK’s ouster in 2018, but the coronavirus pandemic has turned the decline into a free fall – indeed the worst in the region after Venezuela.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me…

Covid is not the only c-word

05-06-2021 00:29 World Environment Day is upon us and climate change takes centre stage.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Germany is the capital of Paris

29-05-2021 11:20 Argentina is an old story for the Paris Club – indeed the oldest story of them all since its very first agreement back in 1956 was with the military regime which had just toppled Peronism.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me…

When beef is a beef

22-05-2021 09:51 Back in 2006 the dollars from the commodity price boom perhaps gave Argentina the luxury of being able to sacrifice one of its export markets but that luxury does not exist today.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me...

The name of the rose

15-05-2021 15:33 All politics is local, it is often said, and socialism does have its pockets in Argentina, of which the late Lifschitz represented by far the largest, the province of Santa Fe.

by Michael Soltys

And that reminds me...

Nothing more supreme than uncertainty

08-05-2021 00:01 Guzmán is not the first economy minister to be humiliated by political priorities and nor will he be the last.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME…

Death be not proud

01-05-2021 00:46 Mario Meoni was not the first Argentine minister to die in office – my newsroom memories stretch all the way back to the Raúl Alfonsín presidency which lost two successive Defence ministers in just nine months.

by Michael Soltys

AND THAT REMINDS ME...

A year of fear

20-03-2021 07:08 The nationwide quarantine imposed exactly one year ago today might well have qualified for that cliché “the first day of the rest of your life,” but let us hope that it is not quite as bad as that.

by Michael Soltys

NEW SERIES

And that reminds me…

09-01-2021 07:28 Yours truly has been a columnist in this newspaper since its very first edition in four different incarnations. A new year, a new column.

by Michael Soltys