This semester I’ll be telling stories about the impacts of international finance on working people in Argentina. Infamous as an economic anomaly and the IMF’s problem child, the South American country will spend 2020 wrapped in negotiations over public debt issued to a former presidents government. In August, Argentina renegotiated roughly USD$60 billion in privately held sovereign debt. As they begin to tango with the IMF over USD$45 billion, I’d like to tell the stories of people whose lives have been impacted by the country’s prior agreements with multilateral institutions. How does 50% inflation impact ones ability to save for a home? How do stringent capital controls impact an aspiring tech start up? What does a future look like for the young and educated populace whose economic opportunity seems so precarious?
In addition to exploring issues and stories around economic justice, I’d like to report on an issue I find fascinating – the informal, or popular, economy and how the Argentine government is striving to bring more informal workers into the economy. Community workers, essential to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina’s poorest neighborhoods, are largely without labor rights or a living wage. The Argentine government is attempting to document these workers and provide them with monthly salaries in an endeavor to expand the formal economy and grow the tax base.
I’ll report these stories by talking to sources on the ground in Buenos Aires, as using databases from both the government and international organizations.