Argentina

The government's failure to advance fiscal and structural reforms left the economy unprepared to withstand a series of external shocks, which triggered the beginning of a prolonged recession from the end of 1998. Social indicators - poverty, unemployment, crime - all remain at dangerous levels, and there is, as yet, little indication that the politicians are getting to grips with the key issues.
Two years ago, a series of misguided decisions by its political leadership plunged Argentina into economic and financial chaos, which has not yet declined. The tension led to such violence that a…