The Grand Coalition

[Dinner]

The main reason was the debt burden was to high most of this was brought abut by large government deficits but the fundimentals were to wacked out to maintain the dollar peg. Thus the sharp fall in the local currency and their inability to repay dollar dominated loans. If they had attracted more foreign investment with free markets and less regulation then likely they could have avoided default or at least maanged their currency decline instead of being hit with it al at once.

[Mr. Harley]

And if Argentina had not tried to privatize their social security system with debt - the WSJ did a couple of good articles on it before the current debate on SS privatization in the US.

[Dinner]

Privatization is rarely a good idea because the costs are so great the only way to finance it is through massive increases in debt. The CBO says it would take $2 trillion in additional debt to pull off bush's phase out of Social Security.

I also find it dispicable the way the Administration and Congressional Republicans have sicked their attack dogs on the AARP. The AARP's only crime was pointing out that doing nothing costs $1 trillion over 50 years while Bush's plan costs $2 trillion over 35 years and that it doesn't insure anyone gets anything.

[Mr. Harley]

TANSTAAFL