Argentina, Australia and Brazil Before 1929

Abstract

Economic and political disturbances in the Argentine Republic during the 1970s and early 1980s have brought forth a renewal of fanciful assertions about the degree of Argentine progress before the 1930s, when allegedly the country fell from economic grace, even before the rise of General Perón to power, by engaging in massive state intervention in economic affairs. Journalists and even some academics find it irresistible to shock listeners with the claim that once upon a time Argentina was richer than Australia, and even as rich as the United States. This essay will briefly present the salient facts of the Argentine story until 1929, comparing it with Australian development, and restating that at least during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Argentine per capita income has never been higher than that of Australia, a fact that has been known to serious scholars for quite a while.¹ Argentine progress since the middle of the last century was nevertheless remarkable, and that fact will be highlighted by comparing Argentine growth with that of Brazil.