Argentina: a land of learning disability.

Argentina is a land, a people that can not learn from the past. The country flirted with Peronist Socialism and when Juan Peron died, his wife Evita continued with running Argentina into the ground.

OK, u say, every country is entitled to make one bad a$$ mistake (haven't we elect Obama?). True, but Argentina is repeating the mistake. Like Evita Peron, Cristina Fernandez rose to power by being married to the President. In Gonzalez's case, the President was Nestor Kirchner (by keeping her maiden name, Fernandez signaled that she was a Left-winger).

During her first term, things went reasonably well. The Argentine economy grew fast and the consequences of an interventionist and Socialistic direction were covered up by growth. Fernandez was re-elected and had a popularity rating of 64%. That's when the ripples from Obama downsizing America started hitting Argentina. The economy slowed, unemployment began to rise and money printed to stoke the economy led to a rate of inflation of 20% annually. The government response? Forbidding private economists to report on inflation other than the government's phony numbers.

Gonzales' popularity sank by 30% this this August. Maybe Argentinians are learning to recognize the results, even if they are unable to avoid the mistake of electing a Leftist.