How important is it for banks not to fail?  What would the streets look like if all your bank accounts were frozen, no one could withdraw money, and the economy could no longer operate?  Look no further than Argentina.  Today, is the anniversary of the corralito in Argentina, seven years ago, which is not all that long.  For many Argentines it is a stigma and an embarassment, something they want to forget; others are still bitter about those who took advantage during the crisis.  The corralito was the financial crisis in Argentina when all the banks failed and closed at once and one of the main reasons I wanted to study economics here - little did I know I’d be fielding questions from my classmates about failing banks back home.  

My friend told me that when he lived through the crisis, he and his roommates had to buy kilos and kilos of rice and staples to live off for weeks and supermarkets, the same I shop at every day, built barricades of shopping carts to keep out looters.  It’s hard to imagine these scenes you see in this video; being in Buenos Aires feels like being in Philadelphia or in Europe – or at least what I imagine Europe is like!  Argentina on a daily basis today looks NOTHING like this; protests today occur peacefully…soccer games are another story, though!

In la Facultad, they believe one of the key issues for developing Argentina is to finish paying off the loans and to get off the IMF loans and many people are bitter about the debt and loans (today total debt service eats up almost 5% of GDP); as they see it, they were accumulated by U.S. backed dictators who did not use it efficiently.  (Hence the references in the video.)

Watch this video for scenes from that time —– with vampire tangueros to boot; it has English subtitles.  The last one is much less colorful and short – and more violent – for those who want more, part of an entire documentary on Youtube, though in Spanish.  Che, te digo, studying the economy and having a healthy one is important.

12 Vampiros Tangueros

Memoria del Saqueo