Synopses & Reviews
They say those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. Thus the importance of this book. The Agony of Argentine Capitalism: From Menem to the KirchnerS≪/i> is the capstone of a magisterial trilogy exploring the reasons for Argentina's shocking "reversal of development." In the early 20th century, Argentina was a rising star. It was one of the world's ten richest countries, on course to a place among the most advanced and prosperous liberal democracies in the world. Then, in 1929, Argentina fell into an economic coma from which no political or military shock treatment has been able to rouse it.
The collapse of Argentina's capitalist class has been so devastating that little support remains for free enterprise or free trade. Her fate poses an intellectual challenge for First World capitalist countries. As famed economist Paul Samuelson warned: "Argentina is the pattern no modern capitalist may face without crossing himself and saying, 'There but for the grace of God….'"
Review
"Between 1990 and 2001 Argentina went through the most dramatic boom-and-bust in its history. This is the story of how the--in many ways--richest country in Latin America squandered its best opportunity in decades. With a mastery born of decades of study, Paul Lewis, author of the classic GENERALS AND GUERRILLAS, now addresses with cogency, authority, and great human sympathy a crisis which has suddenly become all too relevant.' " < p="">Mark Falcoff < br=""> Resident Scholar Emeritus, American Enterprise Institute <>
Review
"Lewis presents the third in a trilogy that includes The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism, which explored the political economy of Argentina from the late 19th century through the rule of Juan Peron, and Guerillas and Generals: The 'Dirty War' in Argentina, which concentrated on the causes and effects of political violence in the 1970s. In this volume, he returns to the political economy focus of the first volume, discussing the efforts of President Menem and President De la Rua to push through free trade policies and criticizing the populist policies of the later governments of Cristina and Néstor Kirchner, who he argues seek to 'extend state control to all aspects of the economy and to redistribute income derived from the most efficient sector, agriculture,' and threaten to repeat the mistakes of Peron, who Lewis blames for the chronic 'stagflation' (stagnant production and persistent inflation) that plagued the Argentine economy through the 1980s." - Reference & Research Book News
Review
"Lewis provides a first-rate analysis of the political processes leading to the implosion of the Argentine economy in December 2001. . . . Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above." - Choice
Review
"Professor Lewis, a talented political scientist cum pathologist, has written an account of a country in dire peril. Argentina's disastrously mismanaged economy has plunged its people into poverty and insecurity in a land of plenty. Its self- inflicted agony is portrayed unflinchingly. Whether the damage can be reversed remains in doubt. Argentina's dark shadow on the wall should be a warning to all of us." < p="">Colin M. MacLachlan < br=""> John Christie Barr Distinguished Professor of History < br=""> Tulane University, New OrleanS & Lt;br > < i=""> Author of, Argentina: What Went Wrong < i=""> . Praeger, 2006 <>
Review
"We might paraphrase Shakespeare's Macbeth to summarize modern Argentine history as 'a tale dominated by demagogues, full of sound and fury, assuring spiraling tragedy.' In his three volumes on Argentine capitalism, here completed with that systeM&Apos;s current 'agony,' Paul Lewis deftly documents this tale of a country with everything going for it except most of its modern leaders and a culture that cultivates demagogues who crush any effort to create a viable, modern nation. But Argentine history is not only repeating itself in Argentina, it has become universally relevant for as economic historian Niall Ferguson says, today 'America is Argentina,' and so is much of the world." < p="">William Ratliff is a fellow and curator of the world ' s largest collection on Juan Peron at Stanford University ' s Hoover Institution Archives <>
Synopsis
This diagnostic history of Argentina's economic prostration is full of timely lessons for readers in the United States about how an irresponsible capitalist elite and cynical politicians can lead a wealthy nation to throw it all away.
Synopsis
. 15 illustrations