KurtD

On my flight down over the weekend my seatmate happened to be the executive of the Argentinian subsidiary for one of the US firms with the largest presence down here. No names or industries will be mentioned, I realize that that diminishes the credibility of this post, but I don't want to make anyone's life more miserable than it already is.

We were bemoaning the decisions of the Kirchner administration over the past year and I explained the exit plan for my family. [Didn't I mention previously that we're leaving as soon as my wife's immigration visa is approved?] He told me about how frustrated the execs at the parent corporation are that its impossible to create accurate financial forcasts and that they can't believe they are unable to regularly pull profits out of Argentina. The Argentinian sub gets all the required approvals, but more often than not the central bank cancels dividend payments headed to the US. So they're trying to figure out how to move the whole operation to another Mercosur country, then they'd only have to deal with the huge mess of getting their goods imported into the country.

So there you go Kristina, Moreno, et al: the fruits of your policies will be more than just reduced foreign investment, but companies actually leaving Argentina for more hospitable locales. More than just a few banks, companies that manufacture millions (billions?) of pesos worth of goods.