From the interesting blog, Surviving Argentina, by Fernando Ferfal:
“According to the very questionable INDEC, that favors the government:
*50% of the people under 18 years of age in Argentina are poor. This does not include the people that are indigent (people that lack the basic needs such as the minimum amount of calories per day to stay alive and a home)
*10% Of the Argentines are indigent. Back when the INDEC was a reliable source of information before Gillermo Moreno and his thugs took over it, the number was 20%
*The amount of shantytowns, camps made of shacks with pieces of cardboard wood and debris, tripled since 2001.(doesn’t add up with that 10% indigent number)
*46% of the indigent receive “some kind” of help from the government. (May be just a couple bags of food, usually a packet of formula for babies)
*17% of the poor receive “some kind” of help from the government (the social plans are usually 300 pesos, less than 100 dollars, and those mostly are used to pay the political foot soldiers that can be seen in campaign rallies)
*According to the INDEC’s own numbers, taking into consideration the amount of poor, indigents and the amount of money spent each year in social care, 50% of what is spent each year in social plans would be enough to give each poor family a yearly salary that would put them out of the poverty line.
Meaning, with the amount of money spent by the Argentine government in social plans (the ones you just don’t see anywhere), it would be enough to end poverty in Argentina… TWICE.
We have one of the largest tax in the world, 21% for everything, plus savage income taxes, taxes for services and luxury goods.
They take the money, they milk the middle class, they just don’t spend it where they say they do.”
My Comment:
Ferfal has been mentioned by a couple of readers, so I took the time to check out his blog. It’s very informative and disturbing. And it confirms what I’ve heard on the street, now, as well as a few years ago (2006), when I was previously in these parts. At the time, I was looking into whether Buenos Aires was a good place for an expat. I wrote then that it was a good option for someone young who wanted to get a foot-hold in the work-place, for the adventurous, and for telecom workers. That’s still pretty much true. I also wrote that apartment prices in Buenos Aires were probably nearing a peak, and that you’d have to look carefully, if you wanted your investment to be safe.
I was looking for an apartment for myself at the time and almost did buy. But eventually, the thought of the 12-hour plane flight from the US, the expense (round-trip tickets usually go for around a $1000 and can run as high as $3000-4000, if you’re in a hurry), and the logistics made me reconsider.
Buenos Aires is still not a bad investment, in my opinion. It just depends on where and for how much you buy, how long your time-frame is, and what sorts of costs you incur during that time.
But I didn’t consider the country the best place for investment for a foreigner in South America then. And I still don’t. Especially with the Kirchners at the helm
It’s a place for adventure and for risk-taking and for lone-wolf ventures of certain kinds. Business-wise, libertarians on the lam can do better elsewhere.
Stuff like this… Chile gets my vote, so far.
This guy’s blog is da bomb regarding Chile: http://escapeamericanow.blogspot.com/
I like a lot about Chile, not everything, but a lot.
I think he wrote an LRC article about gun laws in Chile, but I’m not certain.
I like the sound of this website entry:
First, I don’t think most Chileans follow the gun laws here. :ok:
http://goldismoney.info/forums/archive/index.php/t-347206.html
But (on the same page) I didn’t like this:
Laws state you must keep your weapon in your home and if you transport in somewhere else, you must ask for permission and get a form to do so. If you are stopped by the police and have a weapon without the transport form, they have the right to seize it.
I might get into a lot of trouble down there.
But, how much different is it than up here where it’s as if I have to ask the, “teacher” for permission to go to the restroom or to carry scissors while walking. That’s the way (most) Americans like it any more, or so it seems. AND, they want it all on government surveillance camera too, 24/7.
Google, “gun laws in Chile” and one of your articles is #5 on the list. More Gun Laws or Fewer Idiots?
Nice title.
Back and forth, I don’t know whether I love it or dislike it down there, but to paraphrase John M. Cobin, Ph.D. when he says, why don’t you come on down and try it, it might be better than what the U.S. is turning into.
And that’s no sh*t.
I drove along river road overlooking the mighty Mississippi River for fifteen miles today, where the clueless frolicked on boats of pleasure and the drunken absorbed the sun in lawn chairs while partying in the backyards of their nearby “extravagant” overpriced houses, passing by more than fifteen scattered cops in very expensive cars and SUV’s laying in wait or prowling the roadways to catch someone slipping up and breaking a law on a fine Saturday afternoon. In better cars than mine, they were like predators capturing unwary prey as it floated down a stream, and I have to pay for this. The intimidation factor was huge, the supremacy they radiated was overwhelming, yet I was doing nothing wrong and I still felt like a criminal.
“…it would be enough to end poverty in Argentina… TWICE.” …
Oh, I’m rating again, sorry.
As a sportsman, the cost is starting to look too great, thousands of dollars just to get there, hundreds of dollars in fees and taxes for guns, on top of the fact he’s recommending Not bringing appliances and automobiles, meaning huge replacement costs…
I am a bit discouraged about Chile after reading this very well written and comprehensive blog article by Cobin:
http://escapeamericanow.blogspot.com/2008/09/bring-your-gun-to-chile.html
the tax will be 25% of the receipt’s value of the gun.
[Around $900 bucks for me]
Note on the test at the police station: be careful, it is not easy. You will need to pass with 75% minimum and know the basic features of Chilean gun legislation and parts of the gun in Spanish
In order to keep your gun registered, every five years you have to pass again the psychiatric test, pass a legal and technical knowledge test at the police station, and provide another “Certificado de Antecedents para Fines Especiales”.
[Another two hundred dollars? and I assume you must be able to speak Spanish well in order to take the psychiatric, legal and tech test]
If you are a hunter or a collector you can get special permission to have more guns.
So one can see that for run-of-the-mill .38 cal or 9mm guns, it might not be worth paying $200+ to import them to Chile.
[Meaning I would have to sell the ones I have now at a loss, just like my appliances, and pay more later to replace them]
By law, you cannot reload ammunition and you may only buy 100 rounds per year, per gun, and not have more than 300 rounds stored at your home.
[I have 550 rounds of hollow point .22’s in one box alone, just for plinking and light hunting.]
Hollow point bullets are illegal in Chile
If you are a member of a gun range and have a sportsman’s license you can buy far more rounds per year
[Another $300 per year]
Hi Clark –
Chile might not be for you.
The flight cost varies substantially. 700-1000 RT is what most people pay, but you can get substantially lower if you look around..
Why don’t you mail me again and I will give you some tips off blog.
I keep deleting mails if they contain a lot of personal information..
L
Informative reading, Cobin compares the three, “cone” countries Argentina, Chile and Uruguay:
Uruguay: Some Realism over Infatuation
http://escapeamericanow.blogspot.com/2009/01/some-realism-over-infatuation-with.html
I checked that out.
And while some things he says are true
(Uruguay doesn’t have the spectacular scenery of Chile or Argentina), he’s not being accurate if he equates crime/corruption in Uruguay and Argentina.
No similarity. I’ve spent time in both cities (BA and Montevideo) and while Montevideo has its rough spots, BA is downright dangerous in places, and why wouldn’t it be, as big as it is.
Uruguay ties with Chile as least corrupt.
I have found myself in small towns at night, with luggage, and not had a problem
Purse snatching is a problem in rough areas in the city, but in general living is much safer in Uruguay.