Politicians gone wild

Acemoglu and Robinson asked "What's the Matter with Argentina?"

They use its history as a case study of what goes wrong when "extractive institutions" run roughshod.

 Patrick Sullivan points me to the Seattle Times coverage of the Buenos Aires subway shutdown.

"A strike that began Aug. 3 over wage disputes has halted subway service in Argentina, where a million commuters are stuck amid a power struggle between Argentina's president and the mayor of Buenos Aires. ...

You have to read the whole thing to believe it.  We are almost used to the craziness that comes out of Argentine politics.  But this is pretty amazing.

Just when we lose patience with home-grown politicians, we must not forget to look at how their counterparts act in much of the rest of the world.