Irony of urgency: the plan has missed Entrepreneurs Soccer for All

Price agreements are concluded without a condemnation from the parties who sign them; Macri quoted business leaders Monday

The most special feature of
The price agreement announced yesterday by the government describes in itself the trap in which Argentina fell: none of the signatories of the pact believe it. As if it were a theatricalization of officials and businessmen that was at the root of a collective disappointment: as long as it was not possible to convince society of unpopular reforms that could reduce public spending and, in return, the tax burden and inflation. the country should resign itself to palliative measures which, at best, would serve to prevent the return of populism.

"Argentina is a strange country", has recently repeated to Casa Rosada the critics of left and right. According to the first, they say, it would not be necessary to standardize the economy because everything would be settled by pushing back; in the case of the Orthodox, they add, what they do not envision is what Macri calls "political restriction": these images of December 2017 in front of the Congress in which, between the stones of protesters and the kirnerian orders to lift the session "a muerto", a reform was discussed in the calculation of pensions that did not disable even the retirement pump.

The most likely thing is that Monday's meeting in Olivos between the president and the leaders of the signatory companies of the agreement, convened yesterday by officials of Casa Rosada, will constitute another scene. The eternal picture of one of the last countries of uncontrollable inflation. Because the world is already discussing other issues, most of which are of a global nature: Angela Merkel fears that tensions between the US and China will affect international trade and hence the gross German and European product of this year. Putin has just celebrated a new stage in its import substitution policy: Thanks to tax breaks, last week Mercedes-Benz inaugurated its first factory in the Moscow region, a modality allowing some companies to avoid Trade restrictions imposed by the European Union this made a demand to Russia since she joined Crimea on its territory.

The discussion on Argentina is, on the other hand, with itself. Without an internal consensus on how to become a viable country, it has not yet managed to ignore Kirchnerism, force to which the government badigns the essentials of inheritance. A vicious circle in every way.

Rejection of populism

The fact that the former president has the opportunity to return represents in turn one of the few elements that can contribute to the relative success of the price freeze program: in addition to discrediting such agreements, the government and men of business coincide in rejecting the return of populism. This old common vision, evoked in all the meetings that have been going on for three weeks with businessmen Marcos Peña at Casa Rosada, is now the ideological support for more specific sectoral conversations which, in the face of Dante Sica, Minister of production and labor, and the Secretary of Internal Trade, Ignacio Werner.

Are businessmen willing to collaborate for six months in a clear election court? The bet carries the risk of what is done without conviction: should a government unwilling to coerce have to rely on pure benevolence? "The advantage is that it was a hundred per cent voluntary," they said in front of the camera at LA NACION. The only sign that companies interpreted at these meetings as a warning was, they say, an argument that officials have pbaded: a eulogy of the corporate spirit could avoid worse alternatives, such as that the proposals of the radical leaders on widespread freezes or the gondola bill of Elisa Carrió. "At least, it serves to reduce tensions in people," they said in a food.

All the good intentions that should be noticed in the gondolas. The government yesterday had the idea that the program began to take effect from Monday, but in the companies they see, the development of logistics during Holy Week has been complicated. Representatives of supermarket chains emphasized during these meetings the need to apply "reasonable" values ​​to products in order to avoid premature stockouts. "A bad price can be a suicide for everyone," warned one of those who negotiated the conditions.

These are clever ruses during Kirchnerism. The last Secretary of Commerce of this administration, Augusto Costa, has even preferred to apply discounts not far from the rest of the commodity. Some supermarkets and suppliers took the opportunity to install products. In the dining room of Copal, they remembered yesterday the case of Fernet 1882, until then unknown.

These were brief moments when an administration's program whose guidelines and practices were rejected served these channels to encourage consumers to avoid buying in neighborhood supermarkets with advertisements that, for greater glory business, the state paid between sports programs.

The combination of this explosion: the ideological capitulation could also occur without result. A horrible irony for those seeking to transform Argentina: Businessmen miss Football for all.