Better Musical Than Reality

Annual output in Argentina is not smaller than annual output in Ireland, whether you measure nominally or measure according to purchasing-power-parity. That aside, the figures you see in regard to Ireland are a weaker reflection of the standard of living in Ireland than is normally the case because European firms commonly book revenue in their Irish subsidiary for tax reasons.

Argentina has suffered a long-term relative decline. It was among the world’s most affluent countries in 1928, with a domestic product per capita about 58% that of the United States and better than that of Germany, Austria, Italy, Sweden, and Japan. As of 2018, it had a per capita product about 1/3 that of the United States, had fallen behind every country in Europe bar the Ukraine and a half-dozen small states on the Balkan peninsula, had fallen behind Turkey, had fallen behind a half-dozen tigers in the Far East, and had fallen behind Chile and Uruguay (which also have a history of relative decline which they began to reverse ca. 1973).

The country hasn’t suffered any war damage in the last four generations, it has universal literacy, it isn’t suffering aught but mild public health deficits (life expectancy at birth similar to that of the U.S. ca. 1990). I don’t think you’ve seen the sort of overspecialization in the export sector you’ve seen in Chile (much less the Gulf states). They could mobilize more of their potential labor force, but their deficiency in this regard is around 10%, not the 40% you see in Arab countries. The Southern Cone is at a great distance from the bulk of the world’s purchasing power, but that hasn’t stopped Australia and New Zealand from building affluent societies.

As far as one can tell, it’s just institutional decay, bad policy, and regime uncertainty from both of these factors that’s behind this.