Kirchner's Argentina

Nelson Kirchner, former president of Argentina, has died aged only 60. The country he ruled though is still recovering from years of misrule.

Nelson Kirchner, former president of Argentina, has died aged only 60.

Some thoughts on the country he led, inspired by a recent visit:

Here's a story I heard last week from a onetime foreign investor in Argentina. The thing that drove him out of the country was a 5 percent tax on his company. Five percent may not sound like much, but what mattered was not the amount of the tax. It was the way it was imposed. The tax was not enacted by Congress. It was not even ordered by the president.

One fine day, one of his operations received a letter from a government ministry with a sudden demand for payment. As far as he could tell, the demand was ungrounded in any law. He litigated the matter and (eventually) prevailed. But a country where the government could remake the rules at any time was no country for him.