ABSTRACT
By the late 1980s, Argentina and Brazil both were experiencing accelerating rates of inflation and frequent changes in economic policy, which put their integration process in jeopardy. Integration optimists were in hiding, and Argentina in particular was gripped by an economic crisis that led to a political crisis-the early resignation of Argentine president Raúl Alfonsín in mid-1989. Brazil’s inflation was as bad as Argentina’s during this period, though the Brazilians had figured out better ways to manage the inflationary spiral. That said, neither country was even remotely able to make any credible commitments that would move integration forward late in the 1980s.
