2024-12-13
51 分钟The Economist.
The year is 1896. Henry Ford has just completed his first experimental automobile,
and Nicholas II has been crowned as the Tsar of Russia.
Far away at the southern end of South America,
the agricultural powerhouse of Argentina ranks as the sixth richest nation on Earth.
Its GDP per capita is almost as high as the world's leading nations, Britain and America.
It was considerably higher than that of Spain, the country's former colonial master,
or Italy, the nation from which many immigrants to Argentina had arrived.
But the 20th century was not so kind to Argentina.
First,
its export markets were damaged during the First World War as global commerce slumped.
Not long afterwards,
the Great Depression crushed the open trading system that Argentina depended on.
Politics was in flux too.
Argentina saw a succession of military coups, six in total between 1930 and 1976.
During this tumultuous period, Argentina's most influential political figure,
Juan Domingo Perón, served three terms as president.
Guided by his unique brand of economic nationalism,
Perón engaged in a massive program of spending in the post-war period.
He nationalized industries and public services,