Martin Langfield's Blog, page 7
April 2, 2016
A cracking read
My latest book review: http://reut.rs/1X3PbJb
“Narconomics” by Tom Wainwright is both an extended black joke and a hard-headed analysis of the drug trade as a business (almost) like any other. A largely persuasive case for legalization, and funny to boot.
February 29, 2016
El fin del principio
Now that there’s a debt deal, some thoughts from last week on Argentina. For Macri, it’s just the end of the beginning:
December 12, 2015
“The Big Short”: Laugh, heave, repeat
Here’a a review I wrote yesterday of “The Big Short:: A bitter guffaw as Wall Street falls apart
The 2008 financial crisis was too complex for any one medium to tell it all. Journalists and protagonists have penned books. Hollywood has tried terse drama. There have been documentaries and radio shows. The film “The Big Short” goes for dark humor that barely masks disgust.
December 8, 2015
Tightrope (or as you say in Spanish, slackrope)
My latest column: Cuerda floja, or howLatam pro-business leaders face a welfare conundrum http://reut.rs/1jKFyRq
December 5, 2015
Running on empty
My latest column: Venezuela’s populist revolution runs out of gas
The Andean nation has the world’s biggest oil reserves but can’t get basic goods like milk and medicine into stores. Voters will punish the inept heirs of leftist caudillo Hugo Chavez in Sunday’s legislative elections, but no quick turnaround is coming. Default is a risk in 2016.
December 3, 2015
November 25, 2015
The sickness is the cure
Some thoughts on Brazil. Sometimes the sickness is also the cure …
Brazil’s crisis may have a silver lining: the rule of law
Latin America’s biggest economy will get worse before it gets better. The arrest of billionaire banker André Esteves suggests room for further nasty surprises from the Petrobras corruption probe. But feisty independent courts and stronger institutions point to a brighter future.
Some thoughts on Brazil. Sometimes the sickness is also...
Some thoughts on Brazil. Sometimes the sickness is also the cure …
Brazil’s crisis may have a silver lining: the rule of law
Latin America’s biggest economy will get worse before it gets better. The arrest of billionaire banker André Esteves suggests room for further nasty surprises from the Petrobras corruption probe. But feisty independent courts and stronger institutions point to a brighter future.
November 23, 2015
Macri-economics 101
My follow-up column today:
Argentina’s vote for Macri may show Brazil the way:http://reut.rs/1Sg3ckA
(Photo mine from a 2005 trip to Buenos Aires: Plaza de la República.)
November 22, 2015
My latest column: Muggle time
My piece from Friday: Argentina faces a choice between magic and realism
Voters look likely to choose uncharismatic, pro-market Mauricio Macri as their next president in Sunday’s runoff election. Latin America’s No. 3 economy needs a dose of orthodox management after years of Kirchnerist magical thinking. But he could become unpopular very fast.
