ECONOMY OF ARGENTINA

Assignment Question

On December 1st 2001, with the country facing increasing economic and

social instability, the government of Argentina decided to close the

country’s banks, leading to almost total economic, social, and political

collapse in the months that followed. Analyse the Argentinian crisis and its

roots in the fixing of the exchange rate of the Argentinian Peso to the US

dollar through the perspective of the ‘trilemma’ proposed by Obstfeld and

Taylor (2004). To what extent is the ‘trilemma’ a useful analytic device?

Approaching the question

Students are reminded that whilst some questions may very evidently refer

to a particular unit they are all designed to span issues across the entire

module. A full answer to the question will require reflection on the issues

that you have encountered throughout the module. It is important to bear in

mind that the content of your answer will depend on the argument that you

wish to put forward in answer to the question and not solely on the

concepts that the question explicitly identifies.

The suggested article by Feldstein provides a good account and analysis of

the Argentinian crisis and should be read as the first step in familiarising

yourselve with events.

The second reading provides a good introduction to the notion of the

‘trilemma’ developed by Obstfeld and Taylor regarding the relationship

between exchange rates, monetary policy, and capital movements.

While providing an interpretation of the events in Argentina through the

perspective of the ‘trilemma’ is an important component of the assignment,

you should seek to go beyond a simple ‘application’ of the trilemma by

including criticisms of it and alternative perspectives to it and the

Argentinian crisis in your assessment of it as an analytical device.

Further Readings (If applicable)

Martin Feldstein, 2002. Argentina’s Fall: Lessons from the Latest Financial

Crisis. Foreign Affairs, 81(2), pp.8–14. Available at:

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20033080.

Maurice Obstfeld, Jay C. Shambaugh and Alan M. Taylor, 2005. The

Trilemma in History: Tradeoffs among Exchange Rates, Monetary Policies,

and Capital Mobility. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 87(3), pp.423–

Assessment Criteria

In addition to the criteria outlined above and in the Programme Handbook,

the following points may also help you to produce a good piece of work:

· You must address the question asked and not try to re-define, or 'twist it

round', to allow you to write about something else. 'Not answering the

question' will result in a significant loss of marks.

· Your essay must be properly referenced:

o only sources referred to specifically in the text of your answer

should be included in the bibliography;

o all sources (including those for any numeric examples used) should

be acknowledged;

o there should be no references in your answer to sources which are

not in your bibliography BUT if you have not consulted the

reference directly yourself you should indicate in the text of your

answer the secondary source from which it comes. It is this

secondary source which should be in your bibliography.

· While selective quoting within quotation marks is acceptable, listing a

reference in the bibliography does not make it acceptable to copy

sections of the book into your answer. You must summarise the points in

your own words. Plagiarism is regarded as a most serious instance of

academic misconduct and is dealt with accordingly.

· Being asked to discuss something is not the same as being asked to list

things. A discussion will consider alternative points of view and your own

thinking and evaluation should be apparent in the discussion of the

topic.

It is expected that you will consult academic and professional journals as

well as textbooks. Many textbooks cover much the same information and

you are only duplicating this when you consult numerous different

textbooks. Textbooks tend not to have very up to date content and journal

sources are vital for this. At the same time, indiscriminate referencing is no

guarantee of a good assignment. Part of the assessment is to see how able

you are to identify and use selectively the most relevant and reliable

sources.

In addition to the above, the following points will also contribute to a better

quality assignment:

Evidence of a good understanding of key concepts and ideas

· Argument development that hangs together as a whole

· Inclusion of examples/illustrations where relevant

· Substantiated conclusions

· Last but not least, some creativity and originality