Far from validating the “successes” of the policies applied by the libertarian government, as officials and the President himself try to convey, the reality is worrying. The sharp decline in the purchasing power of the majority of the population, together with the greater concentration of income, is reflected in all the other economic and social indicators.
Examples of this are: the fall in supermarket sales, the declining level of production and the consequent high idleness in industrial installed capacity (which is almost half), the increase in unemployment, and the decline in economic activity in general. There is no doubt that the much-touted adjustment pursued by the national government has already materialized in the daily lives of citizens.
Official distribution data reveal a regression compared to previous years. The Gini coefficient, a figure between 0 and 1 used to measure inequality (the closer to 1, the greater the concentration of income) recorded its highest level in the first quarter of 2024 since the series began in 2016. Not even during the health pandemic was the current situation reached.
Another measure that is often used is the INDEC’s distribution of family per capita income, which shows that in the first quarter there was a deterioration in all segments, although it was greater in the 10% of the population with the lowest income, which registered a real year-on-year drop of 31%.
In terms of poverty, if we focus on what was reported by the General Directorate of Statistics and Census of the City, the population that does not cover the basic basket of CABA rose from 13.4% in the first quarter of 2023 to 19.8% in the same period of 2024.
This reality can also be analyzed from the evolution of salaries and retirement benefits. In the first case, in terms of purchasing power, they lost 15% on average during the first five months of the current year, compared to the same period a year ago. On the other hand, until May, in no month of the current year were the minimum retirement benefits (including bonuses) able to cover the Total Basic Basket.
According to a report by the NGO Oxfam, the small group of the 100 richest people in Latin America hoard 55 times more wealth than the poorest half of the region. These billionaires have a net worth equivalent to the combined GDP of Chile and Ecuador, or about 480 billion dollars. It takes a worker earning the average minimum wage 90 years to earn the same as a billionaire in a single day, says Oxfam.
In this context, it is worth highlighting the initiative of former world leaders from Australia, Austria, Canada, Chile, Spain, France and Greece, among others, who formally asked US President Joe Biden and the rest of the G-20 authorities to support the new plan that provides for a special tax on the 3,000 richest people in the world. The goal is to raise up to an additional $250 billion internationally. “The leadership of the G-20 was vital in reaching a global agreement on a minimum corporate tax. Now is the time to do the same for the very wealthy,” they said.
These international concerns contrast with what is happening in our country. Law 27,743 on Palliative and Relevant Fiscal Measures has just been enacted. The adjective “palliative” could be applied to the reduction, almost to the point of elimination, of the Personal Property Tax, one of the few progressive taxes that existed in our country. The Law eliminates the over-rates on assets abroad. In addition, for 2023 it reduces all rates, bringing the highest to 1.0%, when before it was 1.75%. How are the subsequent reductions made? They begin by reducing the rates of the richest. And in the second year, the richest people benefit again, as does the next bracket, and so on until 2026, when there is a small bracket at 0.25% and then those holding assets of more than $30 million above the non-taxable minimum will pay the 0.5% rate, regardless of the value of the assets reached that exceed that amount. A true regressive effect, which is further enhanced when considering that the fourth category is reinstated in the Income Tax, for which nearly 800,000 workers will have to pay that tax again.
National Deputy Union for the Homeland. President of the Solidarity Party
Source: Ambito
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