ShareMarshall Auerback sent me this joke about Mark Sanford.
Mark Sanford’s staff thought he was hiking in the mountains. In fairness to his aides, "I’m getting some Argentinian tail." sounds a lot like "I’m hiking the Appalachian Trail."

ShareYou have probably heard the stories about China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) bidding for Repsol YP’F’s Argentine assets in a quest for more natural resources for China. Well, apparently, the Chinese want a lot more than just Argentina; they want the whole of Repsol’s Latin American asset base.
The Chinese have been buying up [...]

The riots on the streets of Vilnius and Riga in the Baltics are not being covered in the least in the U.S. media (Hat tip Ken). I believe they should because, as with Greece, the social unrest we are witnessing in those countries is the likely outcome of failed economic policies and depression. This was certainly the case during the Great Depression, even in the United States. While we are not seeing Argentina-level social unrest, these events are forerunners of a more ominous social climate.

Has Paul Krugman been reading my stuff? He is certainly thinking like me regarding emerging market risk. He has a post today talking about Latvia as the new Argentina.

ShareFor those of you who actually care about anything international, there is an Emerging Markets crisis brewing right now in the Baltics. After reading posts from Alpha Sources, naked capitalism, Market Movers, and Bronte Capital on the subject, I started to think people actually cared about the tiny Baltics. So, let me add [...]

ShareTariffs and price controls? Apparently, Latin America thinks it can stop the growing tide of inflation and end the riots on their streets by just imposing tariffs and imposing price controls. They better get ready for a blind date with Econ 101. But, I guarantee you this date won’t end well either.
The Financial [...]

ShareArgentina is on the brink again. Earlier today, I wrote about doubts regarding the country’s official inflation statistics. The official statistics showed 9.1% inflation when many believe inflation is running 25% and more.
Now, it emerges that the country is on the verge of a cataclysmic debt default. In 2001, Argentina had a [...]

ShareArgentina too has a government statistics problem. Their new inflation index is seen as unbelievable.(see FT article here.)