Argentina and Stolen Goods

Spain is outraged, quite rightly, that Mrs Kirchner, President of Argentina, has nationalised Repsol's shareholding in the Argentine oil company YPF. YPF is now owned 51% by the Argentine state. This is not only a disaster for Repsol but for YPF. As we all know expropriation frightens off possible lenders who might otherwise have financed new exploration and exploitation projects of which YPF is greatly in need. The action taken by Argentina confirms, if there was any doubt, that the only reason why Mrs Kirchner has increased the temperature over the Falklands issue was because she is desperate to nationalise Falkland oil to prop up her failing economy and thereby her popularity. It is difficult to understand how the majority of Argentinians can vote for someone like Mrs Kirchner after all the problems they suffered under the Perons, her husband and other socialist regimes. It must be galling to those Argentinians who understand what is going on and who have been appalled by the way Mrs Kirchner has confiscated billions of dollars of private pension funds misrepresents its statistics to the extent that the Economist refuses to publish their inflation results. It must also be galling to them that Ken Livingstone's friend Chavez has congratulated Mrs Kirchner for her action. What is it about South America that brings out nasty little fascists like Chavez and Kirchner that rape their countries for themselves and their buddies in the name of the people? It seems there is an inherent lack of trust in the people, the democratic process and in the benefits of trade. Investing in BRIC countries is chancy because of the political risk that Argentina has once again brought to the fore. The Adam Smith Institute has a good blog on Argentina's steal here. Why can't the Argentinians be more like the Swedes on which the Spectator has an interesting blog here? Come to that why can't we be more like the Swedes. Osborne is as boring as Anders Borg but more's the pity that is where the similarities end.