Living with Economic Uncertainty

Over the past seven and a half months living in Argentina, my awareness and understanding of how Argentines weather their daily ups and downs has grown steadily. In my first few days here, I thought that everything was the same, only in Spanish. Now as I have begun to better understand the individual and collective Argentine mind, the range of the differences between my home country and my new home surprises me. While I have yet to fully understand how the Argentine government works, I have begun to start putting together what my everyday observations mean. It has struck me is how Argentines are so used to economic uncertainty; they take inflation, devaluation, and robberies in stride.

Americans have lived in a world of stability and predictability for many political administrations. Now with the economy reeling, they are having to understand how to live with an unsteady economy. In this respect, there is maybe something Americans can learn from Argentines. The trend of an economic downturn roughly every ten years has instilled in my new neighbors an attitude of problem solving in order to keep their earnings as safe as possible. The monthly challenge of what to do with your pay check: whether to change it to dollars and put it in a safe or leave it in pesos in your bank account is a dilemma that North Americans don’t even consider. With the current devaluation of the peso, it is a pressing question that has due right to be at the top of any salary earner’s mind. I have seen my salary in pesos drop dramatically in relation to the dollar, but the money that I have saved in my US bank account becomes more valuable every day. In this aspect, I am the lucky foreigner, but it makes me realize why imported items such as digital cameras, laptops, and personal cars are such a luxury. Americans change their car every eight to ten years, while the average Argentine car is from dates from the early 90s. There is a visible gap of cars from the years of the last crisis: most cars being from the 80s or 90s or new within the last five years. Saving up the money to buy a new car simply isn’t a luxury that the average citizen has, so they pay for repairs and continue driving their 1989 Fiat. Here, having your money in dollars is like investing in the stock market; you’re not exactly sure what will happen to it, but in the long run, it’s probably a safe choice. However, the memory of the 2001 crisis is still fresh in most Argentine minds, and they know that even converting your money to dollars isn’t always enough to save your savings. With the global economy on the downturn, I find my American friends beginning to panic, while my Argentine friends are bracing for another of the many financial dips they have seen in their lifetimes.

With currency devaluation often comes inflation and the current situation is no exception. I have watched the price of a café con leche and three medialunas (a laté and three croissants) which is the traditional porteño breakfast in a nice café rise from 10 pesos to 12.50 in just a couple of months. My daily Diet Coke in a kiosko has gone from $3.50 to $4 and I am waiting for the day when I will have to reach for another bill. With the farmers on strike again we are waiting until the supply of daily staples such as meat and milk tightens and the prices begin to rise. A recent article on CNN analyzing the G-20 countries put Argentina’s inflation rate at 22%, higher than any of the other participant country’s . My Argentine friends take this all in stride because they have seen it happen. I am doing my best to do the same and not grumble too much when I have to change my monthly budgets.

However, the fear of losing your money comes from many different threats, only the two of which are devaluation and inflation. Argentina has been plagued by a high rate of robberies for many years. Robberies here come in many different forms, as they do in all cities: pick pocketing, store or bank hold ups, house break-ins, and muggings. All of these are prevalent in Buenos Aires and punishment is minimal, often even less when the all so common bribe is involved. In one week alone, there were hold ups in a supermarket and a McDonalds across the street from my apartment. There was no publicity of the events and very little police presence after the events, making them seem unimportant and routine. The only advice I was given was to walk with a friend and stay out of the bad neighborhoods, neither of which would have helped me if I had gone to pick up some milk at just the wrong moment. A normal ride in a taxi or on the subway can cost you much more than you expected due to fake money swaps and pick pocketters. The things that surprised me the most were that Argentines are targeted almost as much as tourists and that there is almost no social conscience to say something if you’re a witness. Thus, I have learned to hug my bag while on the overcrowded subway and pay with the smallest bill possible in a taxi ride, and hope that my luck holds up.

The youngest generation of Americans do not remember the economic recessions of the 1980s, 70s, and the depression in the 30s. While our parents and grandparents remember the hard times that were faced, we have lived in a climate of economic security. However, in Argentina, the young people lived through the crises of 2001 and that of the early 1990s. Thus, they have grown up very aware of their economy. This acknowledgement of uncertainty has made Argentines resilient in the face of the current economic downturn. I hope to learn to embrace this attitude and bring it home with me when my tenure as an honorary Argentine ends.