Argentina: government takeovers and crony capitalism are the enemy of genuine development

"A Lesson in Crony Capitalism"

by Pierpaolo Barbieri

Jorge Luis Borges used to say that the Argentine people suffered under "too many messiahs." Their current president, Cristina Kirchner, certainly preaches like one. At U.N. meetings she berates America and Europe for the global financial crisis, and at the last G-20 summit in June she attempted to reignite the Falkland Islands dispute with Great Britain.

At home, Mrs. Kirchner's turned a law intended to broadcast key announcements into a permanent political platform. She's constantly on TV speaking on issues both important (like her seizure of the oil company YPF from Spain's Repsol), and banal (videoconferences featuring zealots on the government payroll). A routine debt payment last Friday presented an opportunity for yet another televised tirade against global capitalism, and a chance to extol the virtues of her own government, one "built on equity and human rights."

As the U.S. gears up for an important presidential election, Argentina is a sad reminder of how government takeovers and crony capitalism are the enemy of genuine development.

Read more: http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu