The Buenos Aires barber's books: a history of 19,900% inflation
© Reuters. Barber Ruben Galante, 67, cuts the hair of customer Luciano Munoz, 46, at his shop, in Buenos Aires, Argentina September 22, 2023. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian
Galante's colorful lined notebooks, tucked away on a small shelf in the corner of his store, show that between 1991 and 2023, haircut prices rose from 15 pesos to 3,000 pesos. Some economists estimate inflation could end the year near 200%. As prices have sped up, Argentina is suffering a painful cost of living crisis that has left four in 10 people in poverty.
That stopped in 1991 when the government of Carlos Menem pegged the peso at one-to-one with the dollar.As a twenty-something year old in the cosmopolitan South American capital Galante was comfortable. A price of 15 pesos equaled $15 with the currency peg. Argentina, a century ago a global economic power, was still one of the region's wealthiest.
Years of economic decline have eaten away at Argentines' income and savings. The wealthiest try to save funds outside the country in dollars to escape inflation and currency devaluation.The peso in its current form came into being with the Currency Board peg in 1991, after half a decade of the 'austral' that ended with hyperinflation during the last years of Raul Alfonsin, the icon of Argentina's 1983 return to democracy.
Divisive populist Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Nestor's wife and for years the most powerful political figure in Argentina, took over. In her first term the haircut price rose 117%, speeding to 200% in her second term. Since December 2016, utilities costs have been held down somewhat by government subsidies, as have bus and train fares. Clothing, home equipment and groceries have climbed faster, while the biggest jump has been in healthcare.
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