Stopover in Paris – “Argentina is a sad example of bad management,” says expert Florence Pinot

First modification: 02/13/2024 – 01:48

“100 years ago, at the beginning of the 20th century, Argentina was located among the countries with the best income level,” Florence Pinot tells us when we ask her about how Argentina has gone from being among the most important economies in the world to having a crisis. chronicle.

“There was a proletariat that had moved towards the urban middle class and this predicted a prosperous Argentina. “I believe that Argentina is a sad example of bad management, bad administration and, above all, with positions that are often ideologically biased in which private initiative has not been traditionally seen favorably,” says the professor. .

“Young people have phenomenal talent, but it is not a country in which private initiative has been encouraged. So, it is a country that has become accustomed to strong statism, to state intervention that little by little has been putting locks on the economy, at the same time as guaranteeing a basic level of income for public employment,” he analyzes in Escala en Paris.

Latin America and Europe facing a world in transition

From February 21 to 23, experts from Europe and Latin America will meet in Buenos Aires to try to find answers to the economic challenges of the moment. The colloquium is called 'Risk management, crisis and resilience. Challenges for public and private management in a world in transition', organized by the University of San Andrés of Buenos Aires and Cerale, directed by Florence Pinot.

For Pinot, the relationship between the two continents “is in good health in terms of softpower.” And this, despite the fact that free trade agreements such as the one between the European Union and Mercosur have been negotiated for years without a consensus having yet been reached.

“The judgment that Latin America does not count for Europe is a mistake. What happens is that there are priorities in the issues. When you have a war on the horizon, you are obviously paying attention to it,” says Pinot, referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Even so, the professor remembers that there is great university and scientific cooperation. “Europe is a country where Latin Americans go for tourism, for university studies, there is cooperation at a scientific level, in terms of research that is phenomenal,” she highlights.

Regarding the challenges of the future, Florence Pinot thinks that we are moving “towards a new normal.” “Several crises have been linked, the financial one with Lehman Brothers, the great migratory crises after the Arab Spring and then came Islamist terrorism. And as if that were not enough, Covid-19 came and now we have war confrontation at the gates of Europe and the Middle East,” she explains.

Risk, a concept to take into account in the economic equation

Given this chain of crises, the experts gathered in Buenos Aires will study the concept of risk in the new paradigms of the business world. “It is a concept that was previously limited to the financial areas, but now permeates logistics, the management of human resources,” Pinot advances about the colloquium.

Risks that became very present during the demand crisis generated by the confinements during the health crisis. The closure of a company in Seoul could lead to the dismissal of 3,000 people from a company in France.

“Suddenly, fragilities arose that became evident and, at the same time, new opportunities. And there, in this context, the Europe-Latin America relationship takes on a very particular meaning. “It's like a new turn of cards, shuffling and dealing again,” she analyzes.

Regarding whether Latin American countries can be an alternative to Asian countries in Europe's supply chain, the expert is optimistic and gives the example of Mexico or Central America for the United States.