Until fairly recently, Argentina was a backwater for oenophiles. It was a big producer of low-quality table wines for local quaffing. That is changing fast, especially since a devaluation in 2002. Foreign investment has poured in and exports have boomed. Thanks partly to the arrival of foreign winemakers, quality has greatly improved. Nowadays Argentines themselves drink beer and less, but finer, wine. (...)Fuente:
One might think that Argentina ought to be winning this battle hands down. It is the world's fifth-biggest wine producer, and has endless suitable land. Chilean winemakers envy their neighbours' trademark Malbec grape, which produces a potent red wine that has become known across the world. Fresh, perfumed whites made with Torrontés grapes, mainly around Salta, are similarly distinctive, if less complex. By contrast, Chile exports mostly standard varieties, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay, which are widely produced across the world. Its only unique grape is Carmenère, from which it is far trickier to make good wine.
Argentina's exports to the United States are growing much faster than those of Chile. That may be partly because its robust, fruit-packed wines are to American taste. Wine Spectator, the bible for American oenophiles, gives ratings of 90 points or over (out of 100) to 172 reds from Argentina, compared with 138 from Chile. The $120-a-bottle top wine of Achával-Ferrer, a locally-owned boutique vineyard, was recently given a 95.
But Chile has some powerful strengths of its own. A wealth of different terroirs nestle among secluded valleys; cool Pacific breezes make it possible to produce fine white wines as well as reds. And last year Wine Spectator gave 96 points to Don Melchor 2003, the top Cabernet from Concha y Toro, the largest wine firm.
Chile's greater economic stability has also helped. “With quality wines, you need 15 to 20 years for an investment to mature,” says Aníbal Ariztía of the main winegrowers' association. Since 1995, the area under vines in Chile has doubled to 100,000 hectares (250,000 acres). In Argentina, the total area has remained static, though vine quality has improved. (...)
Argentine winemakers may face bigger headaches. Record profits have attracted a flood of new investment. But double-digit inflation has caused wages and the cost of inputs to soar. José Manuel Ortega, of O. Fournier, a Spanish vineyard in Mendoza, reckons that the cost of building a winery has quadrupled in dollar terms since 2002. A 5% tax on wine exports and the government's lack of interest in trade agreements are further obstacles. That points to a coming shake-out: Mendoza alone has more than 800 separate producers. But for now, variety and innovation continue to thrive on both sides of the Andes.
La Fundación Heritage publicó su "2007 Index of Economic Freedom", el que puede ser consultado en su página. Los primeros 10 puestos corresponden a:| 1. Hong Kong |
| 2. Singapore |
| 3. Australia |
| 4. United States |
| 5. New Zealand |
| 6. United Kingdom |
| 7. Ireland |
| 8. Luxembourg |
| 9. Switzerland |
| 10. Canada |
| 11. Chile |
| 29. El Salvador |
| 33. Uruguay |
| 47. Panamá |
| 49. Méjico |
| 51. Costa Rica |
| 61. Nicaragua |
| 63. Perú |
| 68. Guatemala |
| 70. Brasil |
| 73. Colombia |
| 76. Honduras |
| 95. Argentina |
| 99. Paraguay |
| 100. Rep Dominicana |
| 108. Ecuador |
| 112. Bolivia |
| 144. Venezuela |
| 156. Cuba |
| Business Freedom - 65.5% |
| Trade Freedom - 61.4% |
| Fiscal Freedom - 82.3% |
| Freedom from Government - 89.6% |
| Monetary Freedom - 71.3% |
| Investment Freedom - 50.0% |
| Financial Freedom - 40.0% |
| Property Rights - 30.0% |
| Freedom from Corruption - 28.0% |
| Labor Freedom - 56.6% |
Property rights, labor freedom, and freedom from corruption are all problems for Argentina (labor freedom less so than the others). Political interference with an inefficient judiciary hinders greater foreign investment, and numerous popular and official obstructions of due process make international courts preferable to Argentine courts. Not surprisingly, corruption is also a problem. On the labor side, employing and dismissing employees is complicated, expensive, and a further hindrance to economic flexibility.Fuentes:
En la "Online Newsletter for the Alumni Community" de principios de Febrero leo que el ITC y la Universidad de Twente, ambos de Enschede, Holanda, ofrecen una nueva Maestría. Su título es Governance and Spatial Information Management y empieza en Septiembre de 2007. Para más información, visiten la página con la descripción de la Maestría. También pueden bajar más información en un archivo pdf.Para que el rol de López Murphy no sea sólo testimonial, tendrá que aliarse con muchas personas que tienen sus dudas acerca de la conveniencia de emprender reformas tan profundas como las que plantearía pero que así y todo reconocen que en términos generales está en lo cierto y que por lo tanto pueden militar en el mismo partido sin que nadie abjure de sus convicciones. Es lo que sucede en todos los países desarrollados donde es normal que los partidos que aspiran a gobernar toleren diferencias ideológicas que aquí se considerarían insalvables. Por ejemplo, en el Reino Unido, conviven en el laborismo hombres como Tony Blair y George Brown, cuyas ideas básicas se parecen bastante a las de López Murphy, con izquierdistas e independientes cuyas posturas no son muy distintas de las de Carrió, una situación que a pesar del respeto mutuo que sienten estos dos ex radicales parecería inconcebible en el crónicamente fragmentado mundillo político argentino. Mientras éste sea el caso, el país seguirá gobernado por movimientos caudillistas mayormente peronistas que cuenten con el respaldo de la clase de oportunista que, sin sonrojarse, puede cambiar de camiseta de un día para otro, transformándose de menemista en duhaldista y entonces en kirchnerista sin otro propósito que el de aprovechar en beneficio propio la popularidad pasajera del mandamás del momento.Pueden ver el artículo completo en la Revista Noticias del 02.03.2007
Entradas
Comentarios
