La Argentina durante la Convertibilidad (1991-2002): patrón de acumulación y evolución de la tasa general de ganancia

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to conduct a study about the Argentine economy during the so-called period of Convertibility (1991-2002). It is based on an explanation of the historical processes of the Argentine economy, considering the structural characteristics and dynamic social processes to which the economy is bound, taking into account existing international links and relationships. The general theoretical framework used for this research is the Marxian school of political economics, focusing on an analysis of the general rate of profit and how it relates and interrelates with the very dynamics of accumulation of the economy. Concepts and tools from other schools of thought will also be introduced, without contradicting the general theoretical tools adopted, thus enabling a deeper look into the specific dynamics of accumulation within capitalism, such as the concepts of institutional forms and pattern of accumulation. Thus, the objective proposed by this research is to analyze the pattern of accumulation of the Convertibility Plan (1991-2002) in the Argentine economy, taking into account the institutional forms that were consolidated during said period and how these particular institutional forms had an effect on and were affected by a determined evolution of the general rate of profit (GRP), producing and reproducing a particular form of accumulation of capital, with specific economic dynamics and external links. As the concept of profitability is so important and central to a capitalist economy, let us emphasize that not many studies in Argentina have focused on this subject. Therefore, the estimates and analysis that will be developed herein will not only provide new subjects for discussion about existing studies, but will also contribute to filling the gap on research that have yet to be properly examined in the Argentine economy. A case study is therefore proposed, with an aim to present scientific development to the extent that a single narrative (or story) can be established, which is able to provide an original, coherent and systematic explanation of the dynamics of accumulation of the Argentine economy during the so-called period of Convertibility (1991-2002). Moreover, let it be underlined that although this research is presented as a case study, it is not without theoretical debates and methodological proposals. The methodological proposals attempt to remedy the failings of the existing estimates on GRP in Argentina conducted by other authors, such as those by Michelena (2009) and Manzanelli (2010 and 2012). Moreover, at a theoretical level, discussion and debate over the theoretical statute that maintains the exchange rate is proposed, considering how it integrates with the theoretical structure of Marxian political economics, particularly with the labor theory of value. To be able to attain the general objective proposed, a historical-structural analysis has been used, to make comprehensible the relationships and forms of those factors that contribute to explaining social dynamics, with its limits and constraints. The period of Convertibility started at the beginning of the 1990s, when a set of structural and stabilization reforms were made within the context of the Washington Consensus, such as: a profound privatization process of state-owned companies, a new monetary and exchange rate policy and a rapid and drastic economic openness, both commercial and with regard to capital movement. These policies have defined some particular institutional forms of monetary restriction, wage ratio and competitive system that led to the particular evolution of the GRP and dynamics of accumulation. The estimates made for the general profitability of capital and its movements on the basis of the dynamics of the structural determinants of the general rate of profit enabled the explanation and analysis of the conditions in which validation and accumulation of capital occurred. We can thus observe the boom period (1991-1997) as well as the fact that the very dynamics of accumulation generated the conditions for decline (1998-2002), leading to the crisis of the pattern of accumulation. During the whole period, there were two well-defined accounts observed. The first is the exclusion of workers from a strong expansion of the relative superpopulation. The second is that said dynamics of accumulation produced and reproduced extensive external imbalances of questionable sustainability that led to a fierce intensification of external financial dependence.