Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the nature of responses to financial crisis of 2001/2002 in Argentina analysing to what extent these responses signal departure neoliberalism. While there is rejection of orthodox neoliberalism, there is not retreat from reliance on markets.

Paper long abstract:

This paper will explore the nature of responses to financial crisis of 2001/2002 in Argentina analysing to what extent these responses signal departure from Washington Consensus-led neoliberalism. Under Convertibility Regime neoliberalism found embrace in its closest version to orthodoxy that core of state strategies such as removal of flexibility in monetary policies to achieve price stability, unrestricted financial and trade liberalisation, deregulation, and privatisations explicitly tied growth to markets and external finance. Experience of financial crisis of 2001/2002 stimulated debate about the need for greater role for the state in economy and led to reversal of several aspects of neoliberal reforms under Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (2007- ) administrations. It will be argued that key policy changes such as export taxes, capital and foreign exchange controls and recently, nationalisation of oil company YPF represent departure from automatic pilot neoliberal strategies. Meanwhile, it will be argued that there is not retreat from reliance on markets and promotion of stable exchange rate and prices, trade liberalisation and deregulation of foreign investment to access capital mobility and efficiency. Subsequently, this paper argues, rather than retreat from neoliberalism, post-crisis strategies represent greater state role to develop regulatory mechanisms to pursue competitiveness with more productive goals minimising destabilising effects of capital mobility such as currency appreciation and price fluctuations