Eternally "developing" countries

Ted. Judy has just published a post about our visit to Buenos Aires where we found a city filled with beautiful monuments, theatres, boulevards, parks and lovely people.

After only four days, though, some things are pretty obvious to me. The glory of 100 years ago has crumbled. Once the 7th wealthiest country in the world, Argentina is now categorized as a “developing” country. We have visited many developing countries over the years and I began to wonder whether any of these places ever finally become “developed.” Apparently, the last time that happened was with South Korea, 20 years ago. There are many reasons why so many countries remain “developing” but two common ones are an over dependence on commodity exports and a failure to establish and maintain the rule of law. One sad symptom of a developing country is the emigration of educated young people seeking a better life elsewhere. 

We saw several visible signs of economic instability while exploring Buenos Aires. Armed police and security guards patrol the streets everywhere. Lines form outside of those ATM’s that still have cash. Strolling the streets in shopping districts, one hears the constant chirping of “Cambio, cambio;” the call of the black market moneychangers. The big retail chain Carrefour launched an ad campaign freezing prices on key items for 3 months.

A "sign" of rampant inflation  

When we first visited Poland in 2001, the infrastructure was pretty dismal and it was obviously a developing country. Some young Poles were anxious to leave their homeland for greener pastures to the west but many people we met were excited about their future at home. The rule of law seemed to be in place and the prospect of joining the EU brought the promise of capital investment. On our return, 17 years later, we saw that the dreams of those who stayed are coming true. According to many economists, Poland is about to be relabeled as a “developed” economy and an IMF “advanced” nation. 

This past October, we saw dozens of construction cranes on the Warsaw skyline. Last week in Buenos Aires, we only saw two. Big buildings are no measure of a country’s success but they can be indicative of the opportunity for good jobs.  I pray that the leaders of Argentina can figure out how to stabilize and retool their country for a 21^st century economy so that their best and brightest young people can thrive in their beautiful land.