The Impact of the Menem Government's Economic Policies on Argentina through a Before-and-after Comparison Method

Abstract

In the 1980s, Argentina's economy fell into recession, with inflation at 5,000%, persistent government deficits and high debt, and capital outflows exacerbated by Argentina's territorial war with Britain in 1982. In 1989, Carlos Menem (1930-2021), leader of the Argentine Justice Party, was elected president of Argentina. In response to the economic crisis, he vigorously pursued neoliberalism during his tenure, emphasizing less government intervention and encouraging free trade and financial liberalization. During his first term, Argentina's economy grew by leaps and bounds. Because of his economic success, Carlos Menem won the presidential election in 1995. He defeated his rivals by a wide margin and became the first elected president of Argentina. However, in 2001, Argentina was hit by a severe economic crisis. Many scholars believe that Menem's policies were one of the causes of Argentina's economic crisis. Most scholars focus on the economy during Menem's time, but do not consider the impact of Menem's economic policies on Argentina in the post-Menem era. The subject of this paper is the impact of Menem's economic policies on Argentina. This paper will use a before-and-after approach to analyze the impact of economic policies on Argentina. Menem's economic policy was an attempt to get Argentina out of its economic difficulties. Menem's economic policies did not take into account Argentina's own situation; Menem was responsible for the 2001 crisis, but not all of the blame can be placed on Menem. However, Menem's economic policies during this period completely changed the structure of the Argentine economy, with irreversible results. To this day, Argentina is still unable to escape the legacy of Menem's economic policies.