Error, I'm not blaming others for the problems of my country. I am 100% convinced that ALL of my country's problems are caused by CORRUPTION. But as I stated earlier, whenever we try to do something about it, it's questioned as if it was a totalitarian regime move. In the meanwhile, companies continue to be emptied.
As for the other countries: keep in mind that:
1. Brazil may be in the top 10 world economies but their social problems are way greater than Argentina's. Look at the distribution of income and you'll see only a few "extremely rich" people skewing the total percentage.
2. Chile has a lot of natural resources and their economy is simply based on exporting, basically, copper. Chile has more mines than Argentina (because of their geography) and only 1/3 of the population. Do the math.
3. Chile doesn't have a public university system. Thousands of their students come to Argentina to graduate here.
4. Bolivia and Paraguay don't have any serious public health system. Their citizens come to Argentina for treatment. For free.
5. Argentina has ENORMOUS shantytowns with populations that sometimes reach 40% foreigners.
It's very convenient to be a neighbor of Argentina, since we take care of your people for free. Due to "human rights" associations it's impossible to even put this issue up for discussion. You're called simply a RACIST if you talk about charging foreigners for healthcare or education. And only now someone's been talking about deporting criminals...
As for paying what we owe, well, I see this as a sacrifice. You see, you say the consequences of a default are worse. This isn't true. If Argentina pays now, we're forced to pay $200B more - money Argentina doesn't have, and can't borrow, and yes, it will be a REAL default with REAL consequences. The only thing we can do is wait in a "partial default" until january and negotiate then, after the RUFO clause expires. It's pretty obvious the government is doing all this loudmouthing now, but they will be paying in january. Let me explain again: Argentina, right now, CAN NOT pay. Our central bank reserves amount only to $28 billion.
The solution for argentina's short term economic probems is simple:
Wait until january and pay the debt.
Take a huge loan, to be used to develop the very needed:
- roads: there has been a project to do this for over 20 years - it even includes eliminating all toll roads
- railways: Argentina has over 35.000km of railroads of which only about 1700km are active
Eliminate "social aid" programs in a period of several years. Starting with men in working age. If they can't find a job, they should be assigned to building the roads or railways. Then continue with women - hundreds of thousands of "cleaning ladies" quit their job once they started getting government aid. There is now a shortage of this service.
Eliminate the shantytowns, deport all illegal immigrants (maybe with an amnesty for those who can prove they've been actively working in the past years and not just "living here"). Relocate all Argentinians to their original cities.
Forced labor for prisoners: in Argentina, prisoners actually get government aid for being in jail AND their wives too. This needs to be eliminated. Prisoners oughta work cleaning the sides of roads or whatever.
Instauration of the Death Penalty. Criminals have turned extremely violent in Argentina - high profile rape and murder cases are in the news every day. Lawyers say we can't do this because we are subscribed to the Costa Rica treaty - Interesting: Argentina is a sovereign state when it comes to not paying debts but apparenly we can't unsubscribe from a treaty.
Reinstauration of conscription. There are now MILLIONS of youths that left school and never had a supportive family (a consequence of indiscriminate social aid). This is a time bomb, and crime rates are expected to soar to incredible levels because of these people.
These are just a few points. I could go on for days about this. But sadly, for all things to happen, what Argentina needs right now is, unfortunately, violence. Argentina is in serious need of a violent, bloody revolution - with politicians lynched. This is an extreme situation caused by what i call the "naturalization of corruption". People don't become politicians to be politicians. They become politicians to be CORRUPT. That is their main target. And because of this, you have higher rank politicians that never go away and are senators for decades. The same also happens with unions. There are union leaders (like Barrionuevo) who have been doing this for over 30 years. These guys aren't going away - and the only way to remove them is by violence. The justice is not going to.
So in short: Argentina's problems are definitely NOT caused by the debt. And argentina's problems DON'T go away by paying off the debt. So it makes no economical or strategical sense to pay it right now, or to take any more loans to be wasted in more social aid.