Color, soja, esperanza

El WSJ publicó una larga nota sobre el impacto de la crisis en Latinoamérica. Sintéticamente, plantea que el período de fuerte crecimiento del último lustro en la región acaba de dar un giro, consecuencia de la caída en los precios de los commodities (siendo estos últimos los que, según el diario, permitieron la expansión de los pasados años).

La nota pone el foco en el caso argentino, y analiza la situación de la soja, centrándose en la experiencia de Los Grobo. Algunas perlitas de la -apócrifa- corona americana:

1) "For almost six years, rising commodities prices and favorable weather were a boon to corporations and governments throughout Latin America. Natural-resources tycoons were born, Andean mining towns and coastal oil towns boomed, and foreign investors piled into Latin stocks whose names they could barely pronounce. Governments paid off debts and spent freely on social programs. Economic growth averaged 5% between 2003 and 2008, up from 3.5% over the prior three decades."

2) "Soybean prices have plunged about 40% since last July amid a global commodities crash. For Argentine growers, the pain has been especially acute. Leftist President Cristina Kirchner, who once disparaged soybeans as "practically a weed," taxes them heavily and maintains a heavy hand in the economy. On top of that, the worst drought to hit Argentina in 70 years is scorching the fields during the growing season."

3) ""Mr. Grobocopatel says he is optimistic about soybeans long-term, and that he anticipates continued growth from China, Argentina's main market. "The Chinese aren't going to stop eating," he says. Farmers note that soybean prices didn't skyrocket until late in 2007, so currently they aren't as far out of line with historic norms as those of some other commodities."