And concerning the foreign investment that should balance the current account when you open your economy, the problem with it is that most of those investments are only after big and fast profits, and they usually give a damn about the long term welfare of the target economy. If they can take a quick and big profit by destroying the economy, they will do so, and they has historically done it. All colonialism has being (and still is) nothing but examples of this point... And we, colonized countries, live with it everyday.
This is why Argentina is such a disaster. Most of the people think (like you) that investment equals invasion, and that government intervention (violence) is a legitimate way to solve problems.
The state can not solve problems; the state IS the problem (no one taught you this at school precisely because it is true).
As for the situation here, the worst part of the cycle is just beginning. I think it will take a lot of blood before things start to improve, but this is perfectly predictable: collapse -> privatization -> stability, growth -> state expansion -> collapse. Like everywhere else, but with greater intensity and frequency.
Please, don't put words in my mouth. If you read the whole thread you'll see what I think about government:
The profound and unfair distribution of wealth and power which we (as in all humanity) are trailing since almost forever is the big problem here. Imperial governments imposing terms on smaller governments. Small governments imposing terms on even smaller governments, and so on until we found ridiculously minuscule governments (of which
fatherhood patriarchy may be the smaller unit) imposing terms on people, turning everybody into semiconscious slaves serving foreign interests for ever...
Time to invade the Falklands again to distract the populace!
Coming from a US citizen I know.... Pot. Kettle. Black.
Yes, as almost every other government out there, our history has being full of crazy and stupid people... Maybe central governments in themselves are craziness in itself...
And if you had mining companies all around your country, blowing up every mountain, enslaving people, throwing away tons of clean water, and contaminating everything with cyanide you may give a second thought about some investments. Governments are shit, but greedy companies are just a private form of government, even shittier than public governments. And sadly both (government and private companies) are on the same side of the coin. We, most people, are on the other side. All alone.
Edit:
@majamalu:
Are you Argentine?
Do you think that ANY investment would be ok?
Yes I am.
An investment is ok as long as it doesn't involve coercion. In the case of mining companies, they do not make the rules; they play by rules imposed by the State. The reason why mining companies can take profit from the destruction of a particular environment, and get away with it, is that the government offers them its monopoly on the use of force. Corporations are consequences, not causes, of state intervention.
The worst thing is that, under this system, justice is not even possible, since what we call "public space" is just the place in which property rights are not defined. Thanks to your government, mining companies don't need to negotiate with you or your insurance company (or whoever could be affected by potential damages, and even might not be interested in negotiating with the mining company): it's easier and cheaper for them to just ally with the government against you (the locals). You (the locals) are a mere nuisance, wich can be removed by the police (that is, by the State).
Even if it doesn't involve coercion, an investment could be just bad. See below. I agree plainly with everything else you said.
So if this nice people is investing a ton million WHATEVERUNITOFVALUEYOULIKE$ to setup a beautiful atomic landfill on my backyard, just over my organic farm, where I used to produce everything I needed in a sustainable way, I have to feel happy, take the fucking money and go away to buy some cokes and cellphones. Obviously, because any investment is essentially good and there's nothing better than money...
Yes it is. The problem there is not investing a ton of money, but setting up an atomic landfill without legitimate permission from all parts affected.
I'm pretty sure that every part affected happily agreed that it was a brilliant idea setting up a nuclear plant on Fukushima. See how it went.
Money is a powerful tool. Maybe the most powerful tool ever created by men. That's why managing it involves such a big responsibility. Sadly, most money today is managed by greedy and selfish people who are investing most of it in producing a world as greedy and selfish as themselves. Bitcoin is a huge opportunity for changing this a little. I hope we, bitcoiners, would be up to it.
