The mess Argentina is well beyond my ability to truly analyze. From a simplistic standpoint, they are like a family that continued to borrow with an increasing inabilty to repay. Finally the family reaches a point where the only option is "bankruptcy."

What a true mess. The government is damned if they do (pay debt), and damned if they don't (default). If they choose to default they instantly earn the lable of "bankrupt" and "instability." In this scenario they will at least have some "wiggle-room" for their people - social services. On the other hand, if they had tried to continue to pay their debt the possibility of complete anarchy could fall over the country...

While I was in Spain this last week the Socialist Party was calling on the IMF to be "fair" and "rational." Although it's interesting to point out the Spanish Foriegn Minister on a very recent trip to BA was strongly-encouraging the Argentines to "play fair" in their economic dealings.

I think this depressing and unfortunate situation should be a VERY LOUD reminder to all of us (if your Spanish, "American," British, etc) that we should never take our STABLE economies for granted. We should be thankful we are citizens of nations able to manage our debt and economies.

Let's continue to hope for the best...the best for the people of Argentina!