In line with other FT commentators, Ciara Nugent asks how individuals cope with Argentina’s economic absurdities (Opinion, December 5). Probably more easily than the incoming president will. Argentina adopted democracy in 1963. Peronism has shaped the past 80 years. Juan
and Evita Perón were openly corrupt and created a fascistic system of government. Their values still regulate their party. Over the past decade, the worst aspects of Peronism have destroyed the economy and duplicated the size of the public sector.
During his campaign, the incoming president championed the dismantling of the existing system, but now he is backtracking. Historically, change on that scale has only been possible anywhere by revolution, or defeat at war. Constitutional democracies, with their limited time span and checks
and balances on the government, are not suited to root and branch transformation of a political system. Argentina is fated to limp along, increasingly becoming a high-end version of a failed state.
Guill Gil
London N1, UK
