Summary of the Economic History of Argentina
Argentina has had a long and troubled history, this turbulent past has had a large impact on the economic current and historical economic status of the country.
In order to understand the now, we need to know the past.
Here is a brief summary of the economic past of Argentina.
Before the 1880s, the economy of Argentina was separate from the world and depended on wool and leather as the majority of its foreign exchange.
In 1875, the economy started to grow through selling grain and meat on the world market facilitated by French and British investment.
The economy expanded rapidly and the living standards were similar to that of France, Germany and Canada.
However, the income was not distributed evenly.
Granted independence in 1816, as it was the 8th largest country in the world, that gave Argentina an advantage in the factor of production.
The countryside areas were almost completely devoted to agriculture.
In 1875, the first grain shipments began to arrive to Europe, this led to further investment from Europe.
Immigration was central to Argentine development after this time, 4 million Europeans migrated to the country.
During World War 1, the investment disappeared to finance the war effort and did not return after peace.
After this period, began a time of development, but during the 1960s began a coup and the economic crisis, this led to a period of depression and huge amounts of debt for the country.
Made worse by the 1982 invasion of the Falklands, shrinking GDP by 12%.
Several bankruptcies happened including the powerful Central Bank.
When Carlos Menem took office the economy was in a very bad state.
To combat this, there was a period of liberalization and privatization.
This led to little improvements, in 1999 the crisis worsened to combat the in 2002 the peso was de-pegged from the dollar and the value of the peso plummeted.
For these last 10 years, the country has slowly recuperated and experienced a period of relatively stable and steady growth.
In order to understand the now, we need to know the past.
Here is a brief summary of the economic past of Argentina.
Before the 1880s, the economy of Argentina was separate from the world and depended on wool and leather as the majority of its foreign exchange.
In 1875, the economy started to grow through selling grain and meat on the world market facilitated by French and British investment.
The economy expanded rapidly and the living standards were similar to that of France, Germany and Canada.
However, the income was not distributed evenly.
Granted independence in 1816, as it was the 8th largest country in the world, that gave Argentina an advantage in the factor of production.
The countryside areas were almost completely devoted to agriculture.
In 1875, the first grain shipments began to arrive to Europe, this led to further investment from Europe.
Immigration was central to Argentine development after this time, 4 million Europeans migrated to the country.
During World War 1, the investment disappeared to finance the war effort and did not return after peace.
After this period, began a time of development, but during the 1960s began a coup and the economic crisis, this led to a period of depression and huge amounts of debt for the country.
Made worse by the 1982 invasion of the Falklands, shrinking GDP by 12%.
Several bankruptcies happened including the powerful Central Bank.
When Carlos Menem took office the economy was in a very bad state.
To combat this, there was a period of liberalization and privatization.
This led to little improvements, in 1999 the crisis worsened to combat the in 2002 the peso was de-pegged from the dollar and the value of the peso plummeted.
For these last 10 years, the country has slowly recuperated and experienced a period of relatively stable and steady growth.
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