I'm not sure if you are aware of the 2001 economic crisis that occured in Argentina. To sum up a long and sad story, after 4 years of recession, Argentina could no longer service its $132,000,000,000 public debt and defaulted. It was and is the largest default in the history of the world. Your jaws would drop, as ours did, if you heard some of the personal stories of our Argentine friends and what they went through during that time.
Recently, I finished reading Argentina: An Economic Chronicle. How one of the Richest Countries in the World Lost it's Wealth by Vito Tanzi. The title says quite a lot. It also explains one of the reasons why we're here trying to doing economic and community development.
In June, we came across this article, "Which emerging economies are at greatest risk of overheating?" in The Economist online magazine. It ranked 27 economies according to their risk of boiling over. "We take each economy’s temperature using six different indicators: the inflation rate, the unemployment rate relative to its ten-year average, GDP growth relative to trend, excess credit (the growth in bank lending minus the growth in nominal GDP), real interest rates, and the forecast change in the current-account balance in 2011."
Unfortunately, Argentina is at the top of the list with 100. The maximum risk is 100.
If you are a praying person, please pray with us for Argentina.
2 comments:
The devastion of a current economy sends spiraling ripples of personal devastation through generations -- no, not ripples, large overwhelming swells. We continue to pray. Stay the course. Those you encounter and assist will know they are cared for and not forgotten. Continue to share what God has given you gifts to share.
Thanks for this insight
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