The boom and crisis of the Convertibility Plan in Argentina

Vol. 35 No. 2 (2015)

Apr-Jun / 2015
Published April 1, 2015
PDF-English
PDF-English

How to Cite

Pedro Salvia, Sebastián. 2019. “The Boom and Crisis of the Convertibility Plan in Argentina”. Brazilian Journal of Political Economy 35 (2):325-42. https://centrodeeconomiapolitica.org/repojs/index.php/journal/article/view/227.

The boom and crisis of the Convertibility Plan in Argentina

Sebastián Pedro Salvia
Associate Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias Económicas of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (FCEUBA) and Researcher at the Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (UNQ).
Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 35 No. 2 (2015), Apr-Jun / 2015, Pages 325-342

Abstract

This article analyses the relationship between state policies and economy in Argentina 1991-2001. In 1991 the currency board regime named ‘convertibility’ was implemented, within the framework of important neoliberal reforms introduced by the State. These neoliberal reforms facilitated capitalist restructuring, characterized by a leap in productivity, investment and profits. Likewise, these reforms generated imbalances which, along with the changes in the world market conditions from 1998, led to the deepest crisis in Argentina’s history. The inefficiency of state neoliberal policies in managing the crisis, based on fiscal adjustment to guarantee the continuity of external financing, led to an economic depression and a financial crash, sparking a mass rebellion and the end of convertibility.

JEL Classification: N16.


Keywords: Argentina 1991-2001 convertibility state policies capital accumulation economic crisis