I’ve been re-reading a few passages from Alvaro Vargas Llosa, Carlos Alberto Montaner and Plinio Apuleyo Mendoza’s excellent book about the debilitating myths frequently found in Latin America that harm its development. The book is called ‘The Guide to the Perfect Latin American Idiot.’ It has whole chapters on entitlement, Castro worship, liberation theology, nationalism, poverty, blaming the gringos, consorting with Sandalistas, and other useless, unconstructive things.

Today I found something in the Cuban state press about Argentina that so haunted me I thought I would share it here. Argentina is blaming its shopkeepers for inflation, the mighty bete noire of the Argentine nation. Shopkeepers! There really are people who believe such things! They’d be more reasonable if they believed in ghosts. This is not reasonable at all – it’s madness. Here is the background:

Shortly after 9/11, Argentina drove itself into the ground by defaulting on its debt and stiffing its bondholders, robbing its bank savers, and destroying its money. Due to high soybean prices, it’s had a couple of good years anyway, but due to its monetary conditions (lack of investment leading to rusty factories, forcing factory owners to raise prices rather than just stamp out more stuff; as well as a government obsessed with dollar-buying, printing pesos to do it, pesos that have nowhere to go but into inflation), it’s now heading for double-digit inflation.

That’s the government’s doing because inflation is a strictly monetary phenomenon. But you wouldn’t believe who the government is blaming for this – the battered shopkeepers who are forced to raise prices! Take a look at the insane story here. I can barely believe my eyes. The Argentine government is even dumber than Hugo Chavez on the question of basic economics.

I foresee – yeah, write that down – big trouble in Argentina in coming months. Hyperinflacion is the electric third rail of Argentine politics, this government really doesn’t get it and there’s a long hot summer coming up.

UPDATE: Isidro at Argepundit and Luis at El Opinador Compulsivo have much more about this, en castellano, here and here.