ABSTRACT
Argentina's economy is intriguing: many economic episodes throughout its 200 years as an independent nation are difficult to explain on purely economic terms. It is necessary to relate the economic events, plagued by conflicts of interest, to political circumstances, external conditions and ideological discussions. There are many excellent accounts of Argentinean history for the long period ending in 1990. During the first wave of globalization, Argentina was one of the most successful emerging economies of the time. Argentina suffered its first military coup in 1930, and until 1946 the governments were either military or civilians elected in rigged elections. During the first quarter of 1991, the Argentine government passed the Convertibility Law that created a new monetary system based on the peso convertible at 1 to 1 to the dollar and fully backed by foreign reserves. Throughout Argentine history there are many other currency and debt crises that originated in domestic fiscal and monetary disturbances rather than in external shocks.
