Economy New York Times - Paul Krugman: Why dollarization is a fantasy

[earlyretirement]

i've been covering the cost of using a US credit card the past few days...what are you seeing is getting more expensive? i see tons of 700 USD monthly airbnbs all over, i paid $4 USD yesterday for blueberries/strawberries/bananas, and the gym pass i just got quoted was 19000 Pesos/month (~$20 USD?) for a credit card and no commitment.

i'm not seeing any price changes in the past 3 weeks. curious what specific items/services you mean, so i can do some research

I totally agree. I think expats are just VERY nervous as they know prices are going to increase. But in USD terms they are still very good! I laugh when people like @Larry so it's already as expensive as the USA. LOL. Just comical to me. It's still VERY cheap in Buenos Aires for most things. I think people need to calm down and look at actual cost of things. YES, they will go up and probably already are on things. That is inevitable. But no way they are the same as the USA as some are trying to claim.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

maybe he didn't know about it

i doubt this will be productive, but here we go:

1. Cubierto: of course i know about it; you're the one that brought it up, which was in response to me posting about cubierto. i gave a full reasoning for why i think it's bullshit, why it feels scammy as an extranjero, and how very few parts of the world do this. i feel the same about cover charges at clubs/bars in the USA that force you to pay $40 USD to get in. those places are in the minority, so i don't go, whereas a massive number of restaurants all over CABA force cubierto on you, and then don't even give you what the law requires them to give you (water, bread, salt...and just consent would be nice, rather than finding out about it on my cuenta at the very end). so you make no sense - how would i not know about cubierto when i'm the one complaining about it, providing the law, giving my opinion about its scammy feel, offering actionable solutions, and warning others to boycott the scammers that abuse it as a sort of Gringo-tax. do you pay 1400 Pesos for cubierto when you sit down and eat, @Che Vos ?

2. "Sides": it shouldn't matter if i was 'on your side' for getting a free expensive dinner (PS - i don't think i've ever paid $300 for a meal in my life, FYI, and i'm middle-class estadounidense. i'd guess i've paid maximum 100 bucks for one person's worth at a Michelin Star restaurant in Europe and Peru a few years back, and maybe 80 bucks per person at a nice steakhouse in the States. i don't like fine dining.) - what should matter is the content of my character, and what i contribute to this Expat community and the world. you continue to criticize people and take the victim approach, yet you offer no concrete suggestions or offer to understand 'the other side' in a nuanced way. of course life is expensive for locals in CABA; communists (the end goal of socialism/Marxism is communism, so these are all the same words, 'democratic socialism' or otherwise) have been destoying the economy for what, 100 years? look at Venezuela - vast oil reserves, natural resources, cheap labor, potential to be a global powerhouse...add a little communism and poof, you have people starving. it happened in Ukraine when the Soviets starved them. it happened in China with Mao's great leap forward. it happens every time the government (AKA a small number of elites practicing nepotism) imposes restrictions on free trade and private property and communication. that being said, there are still tons of Argentines with fuckaround money all over CABA and the other provinces. how did they escape poverty? is it because they're corrupt? maybe some, and maybe some got money from daddy. but most people who retain their wealth are hard-working regular people with families that provide services/products to other people, and make daily choices to live within their means and save/invest for the future. you have the ability to become a millionaire in the next 10 years; the only thing stopping you from doing that is your own mind! please read Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad before anything else...it truly changed my life. you have people on this forum giving you great ideas and international perspectives, wanting to invest in Argentina to mutually benefit the locals as well as themselves. instead of complaining, why not offer to help them, and become someone who advises and gets a sneak-peek into how wealth is created and maintained? you could spend your days as a mentee of someone with street cred like earlyretirement and make your own empire someday, then spend your wealth on something that matters (i would love to make a billion dollars so i can dig wells in Africa like Mr Beast does).

3. Peronism=Communism: you voted for Massa, which means you like his economic policies, which means you have been tricked like half of CABA into thinking there are elites who want what's best for you. AOC is a prime example: she ran on being a Classical Liberal and now she has millions of dollars, gets kickbacks from Boeing and other weapon manufacturers, and she votes for war. every. single. time. time will tell if Javier Milei is as Libertarian as he claims, but if he's an actor, he's the best we've seen so far. Trump never pardoned Snowden or Assange in 4 years, never decriminalized cannabis federally, never exited Afghanistan, bombed Syria a sovereign nation, and spent more than Obama. Milei has already deleted agencies that were quite literally sucking the wealth out of Argentina, by allowing workers to collect paychecks for nothing. Milei blocked the outgoing douche's attempt to spend millions on Secret Service protections while he flees the country. actions speak louder than words, so we shall see! but to say you aren't a communist, when you literally just voted for Peronism mere days ago is confusing; are you not aware that it's the same thing? Peron may have claimed that Peronism was something separate from Capitalism or Communism or Fascism, but just because he made a claim doesn't mean it has any basis in reality. Joe Biden thinks his son Hunter Biden is the smartest man he's met - yet Hunter Biden has sex with underage girls, smokes crack cocaine, and makes fake companies to launder money around the world using his father's influence. does that sound smart to you? not in the definition of smart i use, but maybe smart in a use-your-power-to-dominate-others-and-live-in-decadence way. Mussolini thought he wasn't a Communist, but what is the difference between Fascism and Communism, when you look at how their real-world implementations develop? Wikipedia (very biased, but i'll use it) says:

"Ideologically populist, [Peronism] has been described by some as a Latin American form of fascism. Others have criticized this as one-dimensional for having negative connotations, as it also includes a form of national-populism and nationalist socialism. Peronism was also described as socialist by some political scientists, who classified it as nationalist socialism, non-Marxist socialism, and Christian socialism. Other scholars evaluate Peronism as a paternalistic conservative ideology, and with a mixture of militant laborism and traditional conservatism. Supporters of Peronism see it as socially progressive. The main Peronist party is the Justicialist Party The policies of Peronist presidents have differed greatly but has been described as 'a vague blend of nationalism and labourism' or populism." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peronism

it's pretty easy...there are 2 kinds of governments: ones that put the Individual in front of the State, and the ones that place the State in front of the Individual. this was the entire point of the Enlightenment, French/American Revolutions, and today's Limited-Government mindsets of people like Ron Paul, the leader of Liechtenstein, and Javier Milei...as V For Vendetta said, governments should be afraid of their people, not the other way around. there can only be long-lasting inequality when supported by a Big Government program, whether it's congressionally-voted or dictated by the Executive branch. Communism, Naziism, Maoism, Socialism, Fascism, Peronism all place individual freedoms subservient to the decisions of the State (though they use different wording to make it happen, and trick voters into thinking the money is flowing into 'public works' instead of into offshore bank accounts and special-interest groups).

a good History section of Reddit makes this a bit clearer: "the 'United Officers Group' that spearheaded the [Peronist] 1943 coup was composed of right-wing military men who were acting out of a declared admiration of, and in support of, German and Italian fascism. Peron was one of these officers, and while he may not have been the mustachio twirling Nazi portrayed in the movie Evita, nevertheless admired Mussolini especially and had strong personal ties to Nazi Germany (modern-day Peronists still reject these claims). So, Peron was ostensibly a hard-right military man at the beginning of his career, and maintained some level of fascist sympathies for the whole of his life."

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/959ybp

ideologically, Peronism just aims to maintain control, just like in Orwell's 1984. an example: "Peronism has no clear ideology (not even under Perón), it's just a 'the leader is good, obey the leader' kind of herd mentality, and as such Peronists in power can do whatever they like and generally keep the favor of the Peronist majority. Many of their policies tend to be awful and very destructive for the long-term well-being of the country, and they're also pretty much always very corrupt. I grant you, non-Peronist politicians can and have been very corrupt in Argentina too, but only Peronists can be openly corrupt and still be regarded as heroes of the people."

https://www.reddit.com/r/argentina/comments/f644ra

Peronism's goal is to convince you that paying 100+% import taxes is normal, so that 'something-something public good' - but the oligarchs in power have offshore bank accounts in USD, pay no taxes, and get special favors like royalty, as they award government contracts to the companies their buddies control. this is worldwide, and not specific to Argentina. back to 1984, which if you haven't read, is short and one of the greatest books, here is the best scene:

O'Brien villian, torturing the protagonist: "'The rule of the Party is forever. Make that the starting-point of your thoughts. [...] You understand well enough HOW the Party maintains itself in power. Now tell me WHY we cling to power. What is our motive? Why should we want power? Go on, speak,'

he added as Winston remained silent. [...] He knew in advance what O'Brien would say. That the Party did not seek power for its own ends, but only for the good of the majority. That it sought power because men in the mass were frail, cowardly creatures who could not endure liberty or face the truth, and must be ruled over and systematically deceived by others who were stronger than themselves. That the choice for mankind lay between freedom and happiness, and that, for the great bulk of mankind, happiness was better. That the party was the eternal guardian of the weak, a dedicated sect doing evil that good might come, sacrificing its own happiness to that of others. The terrible thing, thought Winston, the terrible thing was that when O'Brien said this he would believe it. You could see it in his face. O'Brien knew everything. A thousand times better than Winston he knew what the world was really like, in what degradation the mass of human beings lived and by what lies and barbarities the Party kept them there. He had understood it all, weighed it all, and it made no difference: all was justified by the ultimate purpose. What can you do, thought Winston, against the lunatic who is more intelligent than yourself, who gives your arguments a fair hearing and then simply persists in his lunacy?

'Now I will tell you the answer to my question. It is this. The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power. Not wealth or luxury or long life or happiness: only power, pure power. What pure power means you will understand presently. We are different from all the oligarchies of the past, in that we know what we are doing. All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. The German Nazis and the Russian Communists came very close to us in their methods, but they never had the courage to recognize their own motives. They pretended, perhaps they even believed, that they had seized power unwillingly and for a limited time, and that just round the corner there lay a paradise where human beings would be free and equal. We are not like that. We know that no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means, it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?'" https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks01/0100021.txt

much like Orwell's description of using Populist revolutions (violent like Peron's, or using representative democracy to give the State unlimited power), look at this propaganda for kids, trying to make people vote for Peronists for life. https://librosperonistas.com/privilegiados/paginas-20-21.html
(i genuinely hope that isn't your path, and you instead consider individual liberty over self-enslavement to the State

False Dichotomy of Left vs Right: the claim of "Left" and "Right" is quite stupid. there is only Big Government or Enlightenment Liberty. that's all. here's why Left vs Right is silly, and just the Elites' way of tricking us that the Crony Corporatism/Lobbying of the USA is any different than the Peronism of Argentina's past century:

"In classes on Government and Political Science, with few exceptions, students in both high school and college are taught that the so-called 'political spectrum' (or 'political/economic' spectrum) looks like this: Communism and Socialism reside on the Left, Capitalism and Fascism dwell on the Right. Various mixtures of those things lie somewhere in between:

This is not only false and misleading, it is also idiocy. Toss it into the trash bin and demand a refund from the teacher who presented it as fact, or as any kind of insightful educational tool. [...] If you insist on using the conventional spectrum as depicted in Sketch 1, you are deceiving yourself as to the differences between Communism and Fascism. They both belong firmly on the socialist Left. Actual differences amounted to minimalist window-dressing. Even their primary implementers said so. Instead of deploying flawed and simplistic spectrum charts, let us judge political and economic systems by who they empower—the State or the individual. That makes things a lot clearer." https://fee.org/articles/the-big-pr...ical-spectrum-children-are-taught-in-schools/

-----------------------
A better spectrum would be:

Authoritarian Right = Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Peronist Argentina, CCP/Maoist China, Soviet Communism, today's USA House/Senate voting to continue FISA/NDAA spying on American citizens against the Fourth Amendment.

Liberty Left = explicitly-limited government, decentralized to the lowest levels possible, representative government, State/Province rights like Switzerland (instead of Federal supremacy), and allowing people to live harmless lives in different ways than you, without wanting to take their money/stuff, hurt them, or censor them for the 'Common Good' or 'Social Contract' lies.

so, now that i've written an, um, small amount of these claims and this evidence, tell me, how is Peronism and its modern form of Massa-ism fundamentally different than Communism? i genuinely want to hear true-believers' mindsets. note that i am passionate, but not ad-hominem-attacking; i was only defensive here when accused of false things, or replied-to with political claims that made no sense, or called an insulting name like "fanboi" whatever that means (yes, i am a fan of Banking the Unbanked and liberating the oppressed from their corporate overlords who want them to Own Nothing And Be Happy. guilty.) - if you post an opinion, or make a claim about reality, my response with a different opinion and evidence that debunks your claim isn't me being hateful or angry. likewise, i'll be happy to read varying opinions and read other evidence posted in response to this. as long as we remember to Be Excellent To Each Other

 

[VINO]

i've been covering the cost of using a US credit card the past few days...what are you seeing is getting more expensive? i see tons of 700 USD monthly airbnbs all over, i paid $4 USD yesterday for blueberries/strawberries/bananas, and the gym pass i just got quoted was 19000 Pesos/month (~$20 USD?) for a credit card and no commitment.

i'm not seeing any price changes in the past 3 weeks. curious what specific items/services you mean, so i can do some research

I am seeing increases in just everyday stuff. Stuff I get at the kiosko. Stuff like chocolate, gum, and some meals too at my local bakery all have gone up. I don't think anyone can argue they are skyrocketing up but I don't think anyone can argue they aren't going up either. They are.

 

[Avocado]

i'm not seeing any price changes in the past 3 weeks. curious what specific items/services you mean, so i can do some research

You're not seeing price changes??? Are you blind? Even Milei mentioned that inflation is running at 1% per DAY. Think about that Einstein. What don't you get? You've been in BA all of what? A few days? 1+1 = 2,

 

[StatusNomadicus]

Stuff like chocolate, gum, and some meals too at my local bakery all have gone up

i'll be documenting what i buy, for reference to people wondering how much of an increase. i haven't seen a single increase here yet. the credit card/MEP/whatever rate has been consistently 900-1000 ARS/USD since i've been here. but:

https://x.com/BowTiedMara/status/1735665638083805681?s=20

...some see meat prices going up at some butchers, but not at most parillas yet, according to him. i haven't purchased a lot of meat in stores, but restaurants haven't gone up for me since Milei's legal deletions. but last night's restaurant bill (burger, fries, tostado grilled cheese, 1-liter beer shared by 2 people) was:

10,000 Pesos / $10.91 USD = Peso/Dollar 916.59 (15Dec2023)

 

[ErosCer]

i'll be documenting what i buy, for reference to people wondering how much of an increase. i haven't seen a single increase here yet. the credit card/MEP/whatever rate has been consistently 900-1000 ARS/USD since i've been here. but:

https://x.com/BowTiedMara/status/1735665638083805681?s=20

...some see meat prices going up at some butchers, but not at most parillas yet, according to him. i haven't purchased a lot of meat in stores, but restaurants haven't gone up for me since Milei's legal deletions. but last night's restaurant bill (burger, fries, tostado grilled cheese, 1-liter beer shared by 2 people) was:

10,000 Pesos / $10.91 USD = Peso/Dollar 916.59 (15Dec2023)

Thanks for the boots on the ground post. Probably some expats or locals posting might have lived there a while and buy things every day. Many newbies don't cook too much so they don't buy things too much at the grocery store daily. When I lived there, I wouldn't go to the store weekly like in the USA. I would go every day and buy fresh fruits and vegetables daily. Meat and fish and cheese daily so I could really feel the increases when they went up.

I don't think people should be too critical either way. My friend that lives there also is telling me things are starting to go up now so it's definitely happening and probably will get worse.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

You're not seeing price changes??? Are you blind? Even Milei mentioned that inflation is running at 1% per DAY. Think about that Einstein. What don't you get? You've been in BA all of what? A few days? 1+1 = 2,

ah yes, i remember why i muted you. such nuanced and helpful input. i regret clicking "Show Hidden Content" - instead of name-calling and providing zero useful information or numbers, how about you use all your self-proclaimed wisdom to educate me, a newcomer here for 3 weeks spending money and studying Argentine culture/history and trying to become fully fluent in the language, with what you're seeing? you could pass-on actual prices you paid, and screenshot what you're seeing. you could even provide some links that would help us newcomers. this is a forum for Expats in Buenos Aires, if i'm not mistaken. is it such a crime to give my opinion, and comment on what i'm seeing with daily spends, since my time is now split quite nicely 2 weeks before Milei and 1 week after? is anyone else as poised as i am, to offer on-the-ground numbers and get actual data for the people planning their trips?

but for the civil folks here, since trying to talk to the resentful and angry seems time wasted: feel free to post your actual spends and photos of prices at stores; i'm sure it will be very helpful for new Expats coming to BsAs all of 2024 with these changes. what we know is that prices have gone up for people all of 2023, according to the Blue Dollar tracker below.

07Mar2023 = 369

https://x.com/ValorDolarBlue/status/1633115296998334466?s=20

13Dec2023 = 1,150 https://x.com/ValorDolarBlue/status/1734951319742341272?s=20

and as one of the comments says, "Es increíble cómo naturalizamos que los kirchos hayan agarrado un dólar a $60 mangos y lo hayan llegado a $1000."

from 369 at the beginning of the twitter tracker, to almost exactly Milei's inauguration just over 9 months later, 1,150. pretty wild! here's a chart of the monthly inflation rate for the past years: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1320016/monthly-inflation-rate-argentina/

Milei's office acknowledged there is a 1% inflation rate DAILY, sure (https://bnnbreaking.com/world/argen...catastrophe-a-journey-through-hyperinflation/), but that's just accepting reality from what has been going on all year, not stating it's the government's goal to maintain 1% daily. the thing about Economics is that there are near-infinite stimuli occurring continuously, so even though there has been daily 1% inflation, and government subsidies will be lessened, that isn't a closed-loop equation that equals higher prices. when costs for meat go up, for example, people like me stop buying as much of that meat, opting for other proteins. this creates less demand with the existing supply, so prices go back down. on top of that, if a giant business like SpaceX or Twitter/X moved its headquarters to Buenos Aires because of lower taxes and deregulation, and more investors from other countries bring their skillsets and networks to Argentina, there will be more innovation. perhaps the way beef is raised in Argentina could be doubled in efficiency if Dutch farmers fled their tyrannical country and started new practices in Argentina...the variables are endless. so today's 1% daily inflation (from the Peronists the past years, no one can deny) might only be 0.9% tomorrow, and by cutting taxes and removing corruption, Argentines overall might pay higher prices for 2 years, but they could save more money overall on not having to pay such exorbitant tariffs for electronics, or pay ridiculous value fees on vehicles and other necessary goods for life.

regardless, 1% inflation for about 3 weeks would be noticeable. let's say a lunch special at a local mom&pop restaurant was 2500 Pesos, it should be 3,025 Pesos from the 3 weeks since i arrived, to today. and a 7,500 Pesos burger in Palermo should be 9,075 Pesos today (according to https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/percentage-increase)

is anyone seeing their regular meal/drinks going from 7,500 to 9,075 in less than a month? i am not, which was the point of my post, documenting the prices. in the end, if my local restaurant (1,700 Pesos for a pint for the past week) starts charging, say, 3,000 Pesos for that same beer, I simply will stop buying beer/food there and cook more, and buy Liter beer bottles at the cheapest grocery store. the problem with claiming prices are 'going up' without providing specifics (thanks @VINO for naming gum/chocolate/bread/meals) isn't helpful to anyone. it may be cathartic when one's communist leader lost an election by a large margin, but it doesn't account for the myriad aspects of what causes a loaf of bread to go up or down in price, Pesos and Dollars both.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

go every day and buy fresh fruits and vegetables daily.

true, you kind of have to here in BsAs, and you can't just get it all like at Wal-Mart or Kroger! you have to go to the carniceria for meat, panaderia for bread, etc. (reminds me of shopping in Europe with all the tiny stores around the train stations)

 

[Bobbie Burgers]

true, you kind of have to here in BsAs, and you can't just get it all like at Wal-Mart or Kroger! you have to go to the carniceria for meat, panaderia for bread, etc. (reminds me of shopping in Europe with all the tiny stores around the train stations)

Very true. It was a big change for me going from buying everything at Costco once every 15-20 days to going and getting things fresh daily. I agree with @ErosCer about that point. That is when I notice it the most. Prices are going up. Many places don't even print out prices on the many anymore. But @StatusNomadicus you are correct it is more helpful if people start posting actual prices of things. I realize when you pay cash that isn't easy to do as everyone has very busy lives. I sometimes and in astonishment @StatusNomadicus at how much detail you post. How do you have so much time? You must be independently wealthy?!

 

[StatusNomadicus]

wealthy

i wish, i put all my money into Bitcoin Cash (BCH) over the past five years, so i try to live off cryptocurrency when prices spike. i am working on getting out of the US, so i sold my house and am full-time researching Argentina and eastern europe to buy some land and do agriculture. next college classes don't start until March, so i'm absorbing as much info from this forum as possible, and trying to document the immigration process for my family/friends who might do it in the future. but yes, i have hustled and saved for my entire adult life, and can live within my means in a minimalist lifestyle that costs very little (i was living in a travel trailer earlier this year, which 95% of people would never do, lol)

i've seen prices not being listed since i got here 3 weeks ago, or white-out erased and updated, so this really isn't anything different. who's to say that if Massa won, the prices wouldn't be undergoing 2% daily inflation by now? like i said, i really don't notice a crazy change. but i'm aware my sample size is under a month still. the problem is, who else here is documenting prices long-term? we need @steveinbsas from the old forum here, since he was always providing real-world info and he has a really unique story

i love Costco. they should open one up in BsAs (they're already in Mexico)

 

[Jeb Spencer]

i wish, i put all my money into Bitcoin Cash (BCH) over the past five years, so i try to live off cryptocurrency when prices spike. i am working on getting out of the US, so i sold my house and am full-time researching Argentina and eastern europe to buy some land and do agriculture. next college classes don't start until March, so i'm absorbing as much info from this forum as possible, and trying to document the immigration process for my family/friends who might do it in the future. but yes, i have hustled and saved for my entire adult life, and can live within my means in a minimalist lifestyle that costs very little (i was living in a travel trailer earlier this year, which 95% of people would never do, lol)

i've seen prices not being listed since i got here 3 weeks ago, or white-out erased and updated, so this really isn't anything different. who's to say that if Massa won, the prices wouldn't be undergoing 2% daily inflation by now? like i said, i really don't notice a crazy change. but i'm aware my sample size is under a month still. the problem is, who else here is documenting prices long-term? we need @steveinbsas from the old forum here, since he was always providing real-world info and he has a really unique story

i love Costco. they should open one up in BsAs (they're already in Mexico)

I wish I got into bitcoin. Now I feel like it's too late with the run up. My friend has bad timing. He got into it several years ago at the peak. Held on and then watched it fall down and he needed money so he sold it. Now it has gone back up. It seems like it's all about timing?

Can I ask how old you are @StatusNomadicus ? You sound wise beyond your years! I read you were also a police and government contractor. You get around! I posted in another thread but I for one appreciate all your hard work and information.

I just posted exactly to your point about inflation. I know Argentina seems like it has constant inflation. I have been watching it and it was almost 150% so far in the past year. But this has always been going on. If Milei did not win it still probably would be worse. So this isn't anything new but it seems like on this forum and the old forum people are talking about it now more. What changed? Unless I am missing something in June it was 500 pesos to $1 USD. Now it is 950 pesos to $1 USD. So while peso prices have gone up the value of the USD has doubled in the past few months.

I am still learning on Argentina. Is it because they are afraid the blue dollar will go down and peso prices will keep going up?

I read that many posters are scared to post here because the owner, Igor is a bit of a wildcard and might ban or shadow ban them if they are posting on this forum too. That is very wrong if it's true. I don't get why people have a problem with another forum to share Buenos Aires information? I read @earlyretirement's posts on that forum. I haven't gone back the 13 years but I read enough to see the guy is very intelligent. He seems thoughtful and it's clear he loves Argentina and has a strong background there. Funny how anyone can fault the guy for wanting to start another forum.

Unless I am missing something, what is the problem with people posting on two forums? If Igor continues with his strange moderation then it seems to be everyone will end up on this forum anyway. He seems angry that he can't have control. That ain't cool. Just my 2 cents.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

@Jeb Spencer scroll through https://whybitcoincash.com/ and see why Kim Dotcom and Roger Ver are fully exited from BTC (which currently has $20-35 USD fees per transaction right now) and now use Bitcoin Cash/BCH since 2017. there's a lot of history, and lots of censorship on reddit's r/Bitcoin caused a forum split to reddit.com/r/btc which is funnily reminiscent of this forum's birth

BCH works great; make a wallet with the Bitcoin.com app https://wallet.bitcoin.com/ and i'll send you a tiny amount to try it out. it costs a fraction of one cent to send, so paying 50 cents for something in Argentina means the receiver gets all 50 cents. this is the way! it's what the anonymous creator of Bitcoin intended: bank the unbanked. around the world. many people think it is only BTC and "shitcoins" but there is more nuance; BCH split away when the elites wanted BTC to be expensive and "digital gold" instead of peer-to-peer cash like Bitcoin was supposed to be. Argentines should love BCH, but many have only heard of BTC (which 95% can't afford to use) or USDT/TRX-20 "Tether" which is just a centrally-controlled 'stablecoin' that operates on a private network and is controlled by one company. time will cause more normal people to use crypto, especially with pro-crypto Milei. i'm actually shocked BCH is still only $230 USD; i value it at 100,000 USD compared to the unusable BTC that got to a high of 60,000 back in the day. you can have 8 decimals of Bitcoin, so you could buy 0.00000001 or "one Satoshi" if you wanted...much more divisible than a Dollar only going 2 decimals. it's a common misconception that you need to buy a whole Bitcoin; you're actually trading fiat currency for 100-million Satoshis for a full "coin"

i don't know why people are acting like BsAs is suddenly unsafe or expensive, but i imagine they are locals (why they're on an Expat forum, no one knows) who are bitter about the commies only having power for 1 century and not 2 centuries.

Igor from the other forum is just mad because this forum is making his site worthless, so he'll lose ad revenue and all the other benefits he's had for the past 2 decades. i noticed after posting some Libertarian stuff that my posts weren't posting, and the site started to act strangely (even with VPN, etc.). sucks to suck, Igor, but your site is buggy and it's 2023; i should be able to delete an account on a website. you have to ban me instead of delete my account? lol, this isn't AOL in 1999...it's pretty easy to delete accounts, and i consider it a crime against humanity to not allow to opt-out of marketing or delete an account

i'm a very private person, so not gonna give my info, but i'm old enough to have seen the military-industrial complex operate in a couple countries, but not too old that i can't put some miles in on-foot and see huge cities like BsAs (i'm a runner). if you come here and want to link-up for a beer (they are surprisingly good here!), we can chat on WhatsApp. you got a backup plan to Argentina? i'm exploring Eastern Europe once i get my citizenship stuff started here. follow SovereignMan and InternationalMan if you want good info on Chile/Argentina from some salt-dogs that have been around like earlyretirement

 

[earlyretirement]

@Jeb Spencer scroll through https://whybitcoincash.com/ and see why Kim Dotcom and Roger Ver are fully exited from BTC (which currently has $20-35 USD fees per transaction right now) and now use Bitcoin Cash/BCH since 2017. there's a lot of history, and lots of censorship on reddit's r/Bitcoin caused a forum split to reddit.com/r/btc which is funnily reminiscent of this forum's birth

BCH works great; make a wallet with the Bitcoin.com app https://wallet.bitcoin.com/ and i'll send you a tiny amount to try it out. it costs a fraction of one cent to send, so paying 50 cents for something in Argentina means the receiver gets all 50 cents. this is the way! it's what the anonymous creator of Bitcoin intended: bank the unbanked. around the world. many people think it is only BTC and "shitcoins" but there is more nuance; BCH split away when the elites wanted BTC to be expensive and "digital gold" instead of peer-to-peer cash like Bitcoin was supposed to be. Argentines should love BCH, but many have only heard of BTC (which 95% can't afford to use) or USDT/TRX-20 "Tether" which is just a centrally-controlled 'stablecoin' that operates on a private network and is controlled by one company. time will cause more normal people to use crypto, especially with pro-crypto Milei. i'm actually shocked BCH is still only $230 USD; i value it at 100,000 USD compared to the unusable BTC that got to a high of 60,000 back in the day. you can have 8 decimals of Bitcoin, so you could buy 0.00000001 or "one Satoshi" if you wanted...much more divisible than a Dollar only going 2 decimals. it's a common misconception that you need to buy a whole Bitcoin; you're actually trading fiat currency for 100-million Satoshis for a full "coin"

i don't know why people are acting like BsAs is suddenly unsafe or expensive, but i imagine they are locals (why they're on an Expat forum, no one knows) who are bitter about the commies only having power for 1 century and not 2 centuries.

Igor from the other forum is just mad because this forum is making his site worthless, so he'll lose ad revenue and all the other benefits he's had for the past 2 decades. i noticed after posting some Libertarian stuff that my posts weren't posting, and the site started to act strangely (even with VPN, etc.). sucks to suck, Igor, but your site is buggy and it's 2023; i should be able to delete an account on a website. you have to ban me instead of delete my account? lol, this isn't AOL in 1999...it's pretty easy to delete accounts, and i consider it a crime against humanity to not allow to opt-out of marketing or delete an account

i'm a very private person, so not gonna give my info, but i'm old enough to have seen the military-industrial complex operate in a couple countries, but not too old that i can't put some miles in on-foot and see huge cities like BsAs (i'm a runner). if you come here and want to link-up for a beer (they are surprisingly good here!), we can chat on WhatsApp. you got a backup plan to Argentina? i'm exploring Eastern Europe once i get my citizenship stuff started here. follow SovereignMan and InternationalMan if you want good info on Chile/Argentina from some salt-dogs that have been around like earlyretirement

I also wanted to thank you for participating so much in this forum @StatusNomadicus . I have been a frequent poster of many Internet forums since the Internet began. I have also been a Moderator for large national Forums like City-Data (http://www.city-data.com/). It's a thankless task but very very educational. And it was a great learning experience for me. I NEVER thought I'd own an Internet forum. I know from Moderating City-Data for many years, the vast majority of people are good, honest people that want to share information with the world.

Also, this forum will be NO exception but online there are only about 10% of people that are "givers" and contribute. The vast majority of the Internet are "takers" or consume data vs. giving it up. I really laugh at some of the old posters on the old forum that think they are so valuable. They posted information to share it with the world and then complain.

I definitely will post ALL my 1500+ posts from the old forum. I will archive ALL my posts here. I will copy any posts where I participated in the giving of information. I am happy to change the user names of anyone from the old forum that doesn't want their screen name used. I definitely don't want to create any tension or friction and believe that both the old forum and this new forum can co-exist.

If anyone has any problem with any of the posts, they can contact me via the "contact us" section and I will take the time to personally review it. I have a lot of things going on but I will make time. The goal of this forum is to share information with the world on all things Buenos Aires.

I don't agree with many posts but I promise not to delete them as long as they are not disruptive. If anyone doesn't want to read any posts then just skip it and move on. People are free to give their opinion and even if I strongly disagree with it, I'll defend your right to post it as long as it's not disruptive. If people disagree with a post, post your thoughts why you disagree.

I try not to step in and moderate unless I really have to but fortunately everyone is very respectful and wonderful. This will be a very valuable and informative forum and I predict within probably 1-2 years this will be the most important Buenos Aires forum on the Internet.

Also, @StatusNomadicus I think you are wrong when you say locals shouldn't be on this website. My main goal is to get locals participating too. I might even rebrand the website in the future to BALibre.com Libre for FREE. Free meaning many things. Free of incessant and needless Moderation. Free of costs, Free flow of information.

I hope to have as many locals participating as Expats. And everyone whether you are a local or an expat need to know good businesses and good information. This site will evolve over time.

Thanks again for participating and sharing valuable information.

PS. You are wrong about Igor and loss of ad revenue. Igor has NO ad revenue at all. He doesn't have ads on his website nor do I believe he ever has. He actually shared his Google Analytics numbers and his numbers are actually really low. He admitted to me on the phone he had no plans to ever offer advertising on his website. And really he doesn't have the traffic to really even make money. If his true stated goal was to share information about Buenos Aires, he should be thrilled a site like mine exists to truly share information free of incessant moderating.

I once told him that if he keeps deleting and over-moderating he will be a "Dinosaur". As well, I believe old-timers on that forum act like "Dinosaurs". Anytime people ask for information people tell them not to post or to "look stuff up".

I believe that is WRONG behavior. Most of those old-timers think they are too important and if they don't want to answer they can skip the post and not answer but they shouldn't tell others not to post. I don't care if something is asked and answered every day. I do agree people should do a search first. My tagging technology and search are very powerful. But people are free to ask whatever they want to ask. If it helps you, it will help 100X more people that have the same question.

 

[Betsy Ross]

18Dec2023 (PM around 21:00-22:30, earlier post was daytime)
-1 beer, 3500 Pesos / $3.75 USD = 933
-1 burger/2 beers, 18,000 Pesos / $19.27 USD = 934

(jumped from 917 to 934 yesterday)

note on Paseo La Plaza on Corrientes on the way to the Obelisk https://maps.app.goo.gl/1XNJuU6nqT6HCyLo6

...it is dog-friendly and the security guard keeps the nasties away from trying to sell you Kleenex while you're eating, but the prices are bonkers...too much for me. but super clean and food/beers have been good!

will post a MasterCard credit card actual rate tonight/tomorrow. 934 is better, but still not accurate for the MEP or Turista numbers here https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/dolar.html

I think these daily reports are really helpful @StatusNomadicus but maybe start a new thread or post on the MEP thread for greater visibility so people look. I don't think many people read these news article threads vs. Expat thread. Maybe you can start a new thread and request Moderators to move these.

Also, I think on the MEP rates posted on Ambito the credit card companies still charge 3%. Even if you're credit card doesn't charge a forex fee Visa/MC/Amex take their cut. I think that's why it's different.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

start a new thread

done, and ended up trying a Twitter profile for simplicity. if i don't get any interest, i'll just stop updating it until there is interest. i use the twitter @ValorDolarBlue daily, so hopefully it can do something like that

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP

and for another idea, i run every other day...i was wondering if someone would want to see videos of certain streets/neighborhoods, filmed at a specific time and focusing on specific aspects. i wonder if i could somehow monetize a YouTube/Rumble channel to have people tip me a couple bucks to take a certain un route and upload the footage. just thinking out loud, since i suspect Buenos Aires is going to get huge in the next years

 

[Che Vos]

done, and ended up trying a Twitter profile for simplicity. if i don't get any interest, i'll just stop updating it until there is interest. i use the twitter @ValorDolarBlue daily, so hopefully it can do something like that

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP

and for another idea, i run every other day...i was wondering if someone would want to see videos of certain streets/neighborhoods, filmed at a specific time and focusing on specific aspects. i wonder if i could somehow monetize a YouTube/Rumble channel to have people tip me a couple bucks to take a certain un route and upload the footage. just thinking out loud, since i suspect Buenos Aires is going to get huge in the next years

I like the Twitter. Thank you for posting the MEP rate. It very helpful. My mom even like it. She use her Spanish credit card all the time.

 

[FuturoBA]

done, and ended up trying a Twitter profile for simplicity. if i don't get any interest, i'll just stop updating it until there is interest. i use the twitter @ValorDolarBlue daily, so hopefully it can do something like that

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP

and for another idea, i run every other day...i was wondering if someone would want to see videos of certain streets/neighborhoods, filmed at a specific time and focusing on specific aspects. i wonder if i could somehow monetize a YouTube/Rumble channel to have people tip me a couple bucks to take a certain un route and upload the footage. just thinking out loud, since i suspect Buenos Aires is going to get huge in the next years

Haha I've been binge watching those videos walking the neighborhoods, of course set to 4x the speed consider people walk pretty slow. Most are during the day although I've seen a few in the evenings/night and would be cool to see more of those. I don't know your level of tech skills or video editing skills are but the biggest thing I would love to see the videos matched against the map in real time to know exactly which areas are being filmed. Most only state the barrio, or maybe the street where they start, but none track the and pinpoint the location of exactly where they are after they begin.

 

[FuturoBA]

@StatusNomadicus and great idea on the twitter account too

 

[Hornie Todongs]

Haha I've been binge watching those videos walking the neighborhoods, of course set to 4x the speed consider people walk pretty slow. Most are during the day although I've seen a few in the evenings/night and would be cool to see more of those. I don't know your level of tech skills or video editing skills are but the biggest thing I would love to see the videos matched against the map in real time to know exactly which areas are being filmed. Most only state the barrio, or maybe the street where they start, but none track the and pinpoint the location of exactly where they are after they begin.

Agreed! All good ideas and I LOVE @FuturoBA 's idea of a side by side of the actual map. That would be cool to see. I love it when a plan comes together. This is a cool site. I was reading the old forum and saw Reversegate make a joke but now I may stick around. Who knows, maybe I AM Reversegate. Hint, hint.

 

[StatusNomadicus]

against the map in real time

dude i thought the same thing when i was researching Prague!! just a simple GIS integration with a small map. hell, for most of us who have played video games, it would feel really intuitive to put it where the Zelda world map was, or similar. great input. i am not there, but then again with AI who knows how easy it will become