Author Description

"The objective of this book is to analyse a period in Argentina's history that contains the key to understanding the changes undergone by the Argentinian state and economy in the 1980s. The book argues that the crisis of the Argentinian state deepened under Alfonsin due to a particular combination of economic and political circumstances. The run on the austral in February 1989, followed by hyper-inflation, imposed a specific restructuring which was eventually undertaken by the Peronist Menem government. The author argues that President Carlos Menem was able to carry this out because Alfonsin had failed to impose an alternative restructuring to that of the 1976 military dictatorship. To understand Alfonsin's failure, the book analyses the political factors that influence economic decision-making and the way such factors are inextricably interrelated. In Argentina the important political factors were; the trade unions, international creditors and the Armed Forces."--BOOK JACKET.