In Wild Tales, one of the most famous Argentine films of recent years, the character played by the actor Ricardo\u00a0Darin decries the cost of a birthday cake he is buying for his daughter. \u201cIs it imported?\u201d he asks the women behind the counter, a nod towards the eye-wateringly high cost of imported goods in Argentina.<\/p>\n
At the end of May, in a case of life-imitating-art, Darin inadvertently sparked a row with Javier Milei\u2019s government over the cost of another staple foodstuff: the empanada. Appearing on\u00a0La Noche de Mirtha, a cozy evening talk show, Ricardo\u00a0Darin decried their\u2026<\/p>\n
In Wild Tales, one of the most famous Argentine films of recent years, the character played by the actor Ricardo\u00a0Darin decries the cost of a birthday cake he is buying for his daughter. \u201cIs it imported?\u201d he asks the women behind the counter, a nod towards the eye-wateringly high cost of imported goods in Argentina.<\/p>\n
At the end of May, in a case of life-imitating-art, Darin inadvertently sparked a row with Javier Milei\u2019s government over the cost of another staple foodstuff: the empanada. Appearing on\u00a0La Noche de Mirtha, a cozy evening talk show, Ricardo\u00a0Darin decried their cost, saying a dozen empanadas can now easily cost 48,000 pesos \u2013 roughly equivalent to $40. This off-the-cuff statement prompted a rebuke from the country\u2019s economy minister and a slather of abuse from online libertarians.<\/p>\n
It was a rare intervention from someone who \u2013 unusual as this is for an Argentine \u2013 has always kept his cards close to his chest politically. Darin is undoubtedly one of Argentina\u2019s most successful actors, starring in the Oscar-winning The Secret in Their Eyes, which was subject to a disappointing English-language remake starring Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman, and he is currently helming the Netflix series El Eternauta. That even he put his head above the parapet is perhaps a sign of patience with Milei\u2019s government wearing thin among some sections of society.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Empanadas, meant to be a cheap and affordable snack, are a good barometer for how much prices have risen. Darin\u2019s comments came during a discussion about Milei\u2019s latest attempt to get Argentines\u2019 dollars out of their mattresses and into the country\u2019s banks. \u201cWho are they talking about? A dozen empanadas costs 48,000 pesos, so I don\u2019t understand what they\u2019re talking about, there are a lot of people who are having a very hard time,\u201d\u00a0Darin said.<\/p>\n
A key pledge of Milei\u2019s campaign was dollarization of the economy: the abolishment of the peso and adoption of the US dollar. These plans appear to have been put on ice. For now, Argentina<\/a> lacks sufficient reserves of foreign currency to turn them into reality. This is part of the reason for Milei\u2019s latest gambit to get the informal dollars held by Argentines into the system. Official estimates suggest Argentines own around $270 billion outside of the formal system. While much of this is held in foreign bank accounts, a good deal is estimated to be kept in cash. Distrustful of domestic banks since the 2001 economic crisis<\/a> in which the public was blocked from withdrawing their savings before the peso was devalued, this has been the saving method of choice for most Argentines since.<\/p>\n