Argentina’s annual inflation rate soared past 70 percent in July—the highest level in three decades—according to data released by the Argentine government last week, and it could hit 90 percent by the end of the year. The runaway inflation has left many in the country mired as they turn to barter and parallel currency markets amid dwindling Central Bank reserves, a bloated fiscal deficit, and a looming debt bomb.
But this is not the country’s first dance with economic danger.
“For those of us who have been around for longer, living in this country, everything has a sense of déjà vu,” said Carlos Gervasoni, an associate professor and chair of the political science department at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires. “It’s always the same story, there are just different flavors of what Argentina faces every five or 10 years.”
Argentina’s annual inflation rate soared past 70 percent in…
