The Very Weird Farmer Revolt Against Trump…Over a Bailout of Argentina
Welcome to the podcast Organized Money. You can listen to today’s episode on Apple on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
As American farmers struggle under Trump’s tariffs, the Trump Administration is preparing to bail out…Argentinian farmers? Today on the show, a sprawling, international story that you might have missed: how an electoral blow to the market-friendly government in Argentina is causing panic across the financial sector, bringing together forces like The International Monetary Fund, the US Treasury, and hedge funds to save the flailing government of President Javier Milei; an ascendent libertarian icon, now desperate to stabilize his economy.
Matt and David discuss the situation with Matías Vernengo, professor of economics and director of the Bucknell Institute for Public Policy, and Rohit Chopra, former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They discuss how we got here, why right-leaning American farmers are furious, and the utter weirdness of the situation, including Milei’s talking dead dog.
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Countries are like people. They can only run up the credit card bill so much before they have to work. For countries, that's called exports. I think people reading that analogy might then assume developing countries are acting irresponsibly. That's not the case at all. Like Matías said, Argentina needs dollars for imported machinery (capital goods) and everyday items like mobile phones. Needing those things and the demand that then causes for US dollars is normal. For the average person, knowing a little about the balance of payments and macroeconomics makes this episode more understandable.