Discover Buenos Aires

As of Monday, November 17, 2008, that big blank space on the photo at the right should be a bit more filled in like our neighbors in Brazil.  That’s right, after a long wait, Google Maps is finally coming to Argentina.
When I was back in NYC, I pretty much used  Google Maps on a weekly basis. [...]

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We reported that the Argentine peso was expected to fall to $3.80 against the dollar, and it continues to head that way - even with the government spending nearly $1 billion today to prevent it. The peso fell to 3.44 per dollar at one point today before finally closing at 3.39 to the dollar. This [...]

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Bloomberg is reporting that Argentina may ease its defense of the peso, and take a one time devaluation to $3.80 per dollar from $3.208 today. (It’s already slid 5 percent since August 1.) They had originally predicted that the government may simply let it fall through gradual depreciation, but the new measure may come up as a [...]

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They certainly do things their own way in Argentina. We just wrote about the upcoming time change. (Argentina began observing Daylight Savings Time last year for the first time since 2000 and did it on only 4 days notice.) And now the government, after just declaring the entire country would be on the same time [...]

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With the recent turmoil in the financial markets including the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the federal bailout of AIG, will more wealthy New Yorkers look to move out of the city and head to Buenos Aires where the dollar is stronger?
While this may not happen (we certainly hope not), this week has certainly been [...]

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Merco Press reported yesterday that Buenos Aires is more expensive than last year, due to inflation estimated at between 10 to 20 percent and to the drop in the dollar’s value.  Luckily, it still ranks among the cheapest cities in the world for foreigners, though it may not be the value that it once was. The Argentine [...]

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It seems that the Buenos Aires government is making strides on quality of life and environmental issues.  This process has picked up a lot of steam recently.
New Recycling and ‘Zero Waste’ Law
In July, the city government announced a new garbage management plan which involves cartoneros (Página 12: es | en). This new plan will install [...]

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The Associated Press is reporting that Argentine senators passed a bill yesterday which now allows obesity and other eating disorders to be treated as diseases covered by public and private health care programs. This will help to fight obesity, bulimia and anorexia in the country.
The law also requires that high calorie foods carry a warning [...]

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The Argentine Post has an interesting story discussing The Economist’s Big Mac Index which compares prices on McDonald’s Big Mac across the world as a way to measure purchasing power.
As they explain:
…The average cost of a Big Mac in Argentina now totals U.S. $3.64, compared with $3.57 in the U.S., according to the index.
In 2003 [...]

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It seems that a lot of the news these days is focused on the ongoing farmer’s strike in Buenos Aires and it’s effect on consumer confidence. Guardian.co.uk is reporting on Argentines putting the brakes on spending due to rising inflation, the continued dispute with farmers and lack of confidence in the president. Many sources dispute the government’s numbers on [...]

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