Editorial Board

Learning the Lessons of the Argentine Debt Crisis

The international community needs new rules for when governments go bust.

February 16, 2016 at 1:00 PM UTC

By The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board publishes the views of the editors across a range of national and global affairs.

Even gauchos need some rules.
Photographer: Mario Tama/Getty Images

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Before Argentina’s debt crisis is resolved -- and prospects have been looking better lately -- it’s worth pausing to ask why the stalemate has lasted so long. (More than a decade, but who’s counting?) Preventing these kinds of fiascos will require changing what happens when a government is unable to pay its debts.

Argentina: Ready to Play Nice?