Developmentalism or neoliberalism? A political economy of Macri’s government

Abstract

This article is part of the debate over the characterization of the government that took over the administration of Argentina in December 2015. While the political opposition has described it as neoliberal, the ruling party calls itself “developmentalist”. Unlike other works that were dedicated to address this issue considering the socioeconomic origin of the main officials, this article is based on a political economy analysis of the first two years of the government of Cambiemos. For this purpose, it aims to identify "winners" and "losers" with the government’s economic policy. It also describes the behavior of the main capital fractions in the new scenario. The paper ends by presenting some of the main difficulties that the government should sort to achieve a big investment process that could lead to the country’s economic development.