Lightening Is Not a Wolf - Literature Essay Samples

The pattern of Nietzsches On the Genealogy of Morals revolves around the deconstruction and consequent rebuilding of common thought relationships; within these differentiations we find both the thematic basis for and the huge diversity of Nietzsches philosophic scope. Deleuze and Guattari assert that Nietzsche constructed the concept of bad conscience and could see in this what is most disgusting in the world and yet exclaim, This is where man begins to be interesting! What these two authors lose in this analysis is that the essential function of bad conscience is the alleviation of what we consider disgusting through an extremely interesting medium. There is nothing new about being both disgusting and interesting, many things are, but being the product of those qualities renders bad conscience to be one of the most compelling concepts of Nietzsche. Within his argument, Nietzsche creates a problematization of this idea that can be viewed as a recognition of both the disgusting an d the interesting, yet it ultimately finds itself inhabiting a no mans land in between these two poles. In it within this step that we are stuck, along with the argument of Deleuze and Guattari.The first aspect of Nietzsches argumentative patterning, his penchant for differentiation, can be seen from the very beginning in Book 1 of On the Genealogy of Morals. The concept of ressentiment is fundamental to an understanding of bad conscience, and it is interesting how Nietzsche structures their conceptual introductions similarly. He focuses on the origin of ressentiment primarily before delving into the idea itself. Central to this discussion of this origin is the lightening metaphor within the bird of prey allegory. Nietzsche asserts that just as the popular mind separates the lightening from its flash and takes the latter for an actionso popular morality separates strength from expressions of strength (45). This statement must be understood as it ties directly into Nietzsches ar gument that there is no being behind doing, effecting, becoming; the doer is merely a fiction added to the deedthe deed is everything (45). Thus the bird of prey has no choice but to be a bird of prey, and thus the lambs must create the belief of that choice so they can name themselves good and the birds of prey evil, creating the parallogism that sets up the context for the idea of ressentiment in the first place. Nietzsche structures the whole basis of this idea around the primary deconstruction and reframing of the common idea of free will within the false inference of the evil / good slave outcry: let us be different from the evil, namely good! (46). The slave morality is centered in this origin of the weak triumphing as the weak over the strong. Nietzsche reveals this as the essence of ressentiment: the inversion of the value-pointing eyein order to exist, slave morality always first needs a hostile external world; it needs, psychologically speaking, external stimuli in order to act at allits action is fundamentally reaction (37). Fiction can become fact, as the idea of free will was created by the weak and has ultimately become fact. Nietzsche problematizes this characteristic of society through an analysis of its origins, but also finds its presence in modern society.The idea of bad conscience is part of this larger slave morality, and this very relationship adds to its divergent nature of being both disgusting and interesting. Bad conscience is in fact structured in the exact way that Deleuze and Guattari analyze Nietzsches perception of itit is something that is based in the disgusting and yet also serves as a mechanism that allows society to push people to a higher levelyet this higher level is laid out in the skewed morality of a system that embraces self-torture in the first place. Nietzsche unpacks these aspects of bad conscience through a detailed set up of its schematic context. He begins this exploration at the beginning of Book 2 b y declaring that man differs from other animals by our right to make promises (57). This right hinges upon our real memory of the will: so that between the original I will,.and the actual discharge of the will, its act, a world of strange new things, circumstances, even acts of will may be interposed without breaking this long chain of the will (58). Once again, Nietzsche is mapping the landscape between the action and its expression like in the lightening metaphor, yet this time he is telling the story of how bad conscience originated through the complex equations of human moral evolution. Starting with this landmark of promises, Nietzsche establishes that this precisely is the long story of how responsibility originated: the right to make promises evidently embraces and presupposes as a preparatory task the that one first makes men to a certain degree necessary, uniform, like among like, regular, and consequently calculable (58-9). He asserts, tantalizingly, that at the end of this tremendous processthe ripest fruit is the sovereign individual, namely the end result of the transference of free wills instillation into fact from fiction. Alas, we are still stuck inside this process. Hence bad conscience comes into play.This memory of the will is formed by promises, turns into responsibility, and penetrates the profoundest depths and becomes instinct, the dominating instinct (60). This instinct, Nietzsche claims, is what we call our conscience. Yet how do we remember? Man could never do without blood, torture, and sacrifices when he felt the need to create a memory for himself (61). Thus our oldest impulses to remember were all structured around the idea of a violent consequence to forgetting. Yet this is not all. This notion of conscience ties into the chief moral idea of guilt, which personifies the bad conscience. Nietzsche argues that the major moral concept Schuld has its origin in the very material concept Schulden (62-3). He deconstructs ou r modern notion of punishment through this prism, as the idea of an equivalence between injury and pain[evolved] in the contractual relationship between creditor and debtor (63). This relationship gets at the very seed of both the slave morality and the pattern of deconstruction within Nietzsches argument that lends itself to the construction of dualities: in punishing the debtor, the creditor participates in the right of the masters: at last, he, too, may experiencethe exalted sensation of being allowed to despise and mistreat someone beneath him' (65). Thus punishment is conceptualized within the system of slave/master morality and illustrates the ugliness of human nature. Yet it is within the unpacking of punishments relation to its purpose that we find the greatest example of the repetitive patterns within Nietzsches argument that create, and eliminate, dualities within moral concepts.Section 12 of Book 2 is the thematic climax of the gradual crescendo of deconstruction of co mmon thought relationships Nietzsche has written into his On the Genealogy of Morals. It serves as both a model and an end in itself to the pattern of uncommon interpretation that has fertilized the mind for the complex idea of guilt. This section is tied to the metaphor of lightening within the bird of prey allegory through its desire to differentiate the origin from its expression, yet it delves even further into this exploration in that it sets up a model of clarification that can be used to break down any false equalization between meaning and manifestation. The cause of an origin of a thing and its eventual utility, its actual employment and place in a system of purposes, lie worlds aparthowever well one has understood the utility of any physiological organ (or of [anything else]), this means nothing regarding its origin (77). Nietzsche really pulls the rug out from under his reader with this assertion (he wryly acknowledges that it may sound uncomfortable and disagreeable to older ears). In disregarding this fundamental truth, the essence of life, its will to power, is ignored; one overlooks the essential priority of the spontaneous, aggressive, expansive, form-giving forces that give new interpretations and directions (79). Nietzsche even goes so far as to spend a page listing various motivations, and manifestations, for punishment. This passage is hugely important because it guides the reader in how to comprehend the rest of Nietzsches argument. Being admonished, and enlightened, thusly, we return with Nietzsche to the origins of bad conscience.This breakdown of purpose versus action becomes very important when Nietzsche opens up his analysis of bad conscience. Punishment is supposed to possess the value of awakening the feeling of guilt in the guilty person; one seeks it in the actual instrumentum of that psychical reaction called bad conscience, sting of conscience' (81). So we recognize what is meant to elicit this feeling, and we have exp lored the moral chain of its manifestation, its push through promise and responsibility into the conscience. Yet what were guilts origins? Nietzsche offers the following explanation: I regard the bad conscience as the serious illness that man was bound to contract under the stress of the most fundamental change he ever experiencedthat change which occurred when he found himself finally enclosed within the walls of society and of peace (84). These final sections of Book 2 are littered with exclamation marksthe reader can almost palpably feel Nietzsches excitement at unveiling this new concept for man, his interest brought forth in the analysis of such a hideous truth of human nature. The most vital part of this enclosure within society is that it brought about that all those instincts of wild, free, prowling man turned backward against man himself. Hostility, cruelty, joy in persecutingall this turned against the possessors of such instincts: that is the origin of bad conscienc e (85). Within the confines of society and its customs this fool, this yearning and desperate prisoner became the inventor of the bad conscience (85). This assertion falls beautifully into the Nietzschian concept pattern that allows the interpretation of bad conscience as both profoundly disgusting and highly interesting: as we become more and more stuck in the process of the transference of free wills instillation into fact we create illusions in order to feel power; these creations ultimately end up reigning us in even more, like the false inference of the slave morality and the invention of guilt. This disgusts Nietzsche. There is so much in man that is hideous! Too long, the earth has been a madhouse! he cries (93). There is almost a feel of wretchedness within the final pages of his analysis of bad conscienceNietzsche points out that there resides a madness of the will which is absolutely unexampled: the will of a man to find himself guiltyhis will to erect an idealthat o f the holy Godand in the face of it to feel the palpable certainty of his own absolute unworthiness (93). Nietzsche blasts God as the ultimate masochistic masturbatory creation of the guilt-ridden conscience. Yet even with his great cries of disgust, his passionate usage of exclamation points, Nietzsche ends this great pattern of de- and then re-construction with an actually quite compelling call for hope. Some day, in a stronger age than this decaying, self-doubting present, he must yet come to us, this redeeming manso that[he] will redeem us not only from the hitherto reigning ideal but also from that which was bound to grow out of it, the great nausea (96). Yet this man is also a man of great love and contempt (96). Thus even in hope it is only in the embrace, and enlightenment, of such great dualities that progress is possible. Bad conscience is not the only thing that finds itself being two things at once.

A Feminist Criticism of Emma by Jane Austen Free Essay Example, 750 words

A Feminist Criticism of Emma by Jane Austen Women are important in sustaining the society, they play essential roles at different societal levels and therefore deserve similar rights as men do. For a long time different societies have shown biases against women always apportioning women subordinating roles to the men in the society. The rise of feminism in the modern society aims at creating a more liberal society, one that recognizes the women thereby giving them equal opportunities both in education and employment positions. The main responsibility of a woman is the sustenance of life in the society and for this. They deserve great recognition, not only support but equality to allow them to claim their space, one previously dominated by men in different societies in different ways throughout history. Feminists call for the creation of favorable societies because for a long time the men in the society have considered themselves better than they have considered women thereby apportioning the male child more responsibilities and privileges at the expense of the female child. The fact thus resulted in societies with more powerful males than females. We will write a custom essay sample on A Feminist Criticism of Emma by Jane Austen or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now Creating a fair society would therefore begin by stratification and an opportunity realignment to favor the girl child. Women are human just like men and for this they deserve equal treatment, human rights must apply equally and thereby address the different social issues that affect women at different levels in the societies beginning with the families where most women suffer under the pretext of the marriage. Additionally, more women continue to face negative criticisms and discrimination at the work place feminists therefore call for speedy ratification of the legislations to ensure the immediate apprehension and prosecution of exploitative men who continue to take advantage of women for their sexuality (Devoney 7). The creation of a society that offers the two genders equal opportunities is a prerequisite to the development of a society. It dictates the recognition of the female rights as human rights thereby defending them in their constitution s among other statutes of the country. This eliminates of abuse thereby resulting in the institution of stronger and more liberal laws that contribute in the creation of a developed economy. Among the integral roles women play, is the nurturing of children. Women conceive and give birth to the children in the society this implies that women sustain the future of the society by continually bringing forth the young to take over from the old.

Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller - 872 Words

In â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller, Willy Loman, a salesman in New York, struggles with his internal beliefs of what makes America great. His lovely wife attempts to support him and as his sons grow, they defy his passions and ideals. Willy goes through his days committed to being a likable person and has goals to support his family. Unfortunately, Willy Loman’s ideals become outgrown as the technological age develops. Due to the protagonist’s motivations, he represents the tragic hero in a few ways. Willy Loman’s career is based off of his belief in the American dream. He feels that if he is well-liked, it will lead to profitable sales. Loman also has grand delusions that the American dream includes athletic sons, a housewife and a home that is paid for. Charley tells Willy in act two, â€Å"The only thing you got in this world is what you can sell. And the funny thing is that you re a salesman, and you don t know that† (Meyer 1757). The audience would believe that Willy Loman is motivated by money because he is a salesman, but this is not his true drive. In the end, Willy comes to the conclusion that the best way to help his sons live a good life, would be to kill himself so they can collect from his insurance. Willy represents the failed American dream. Willy Loman is not your typical hero. He has no supernatural powers, he is not financially secure, and not always of sound mind. Larsen 2 There is no heroic resolution, only death. Willy would beShow MoreRelatedDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1387 Words   |  6 PagesAmerican play-write Arthur Miller, is undoubtedly Death of a Salesman. Arthur Miller wrote Death of a Salesman in 1949 at the time when America was evolving into an economic powerhouse. Arthur Miller critiques the system of capitalism and he also tells of the reality of the American Dream. Not only does he do these things, but he brings to light the idea of the dysfunctional family. Death of a Salesman is one of America’s saddest tragedies. In Arthur Miller’s, Death of a Salesman, three major eventsRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller888 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of a Salesman† is a play written by Arthur Miller in the year 1949. The play revolves around a desperate salesman, Willy Loman. Loman is delusioned and most of the things he does make him to appear as a man who is living in his own world away from other people. He is disturbed by the fact that he cannot let go his former self. His wife Linda is sad and lonely; his youngest son Biff is presented as a swinger/player while his eldest son Happy appears anti-business and confused by the behaviorRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1573 Words   |  7 Pagesrepresents a character with a tragic flaw leading to his downfall. In addition, in traditional tragedy, the main character falls from high authority and often it is predetermined by fate, while the audience experiences catharsis (Bloom 2). Arthur Miller’s play Death of a Salesman is considered to be a tragedy because this literary work has some of the main characteristics of the tragedy genre. In this play, the main character Willy Loman possesses such traits and behaviors that lead to his downfall, and theRead MoreDeath of Salesman by Arthur Miller972 Words   |  4 PagesIn the play Death of a Salesman by the playwright Arthur Miller, the use of names is significant to the characters themselves. Many playwrights and authors use names in their works to make a connection between the reader and the main idea of their work. Arthur Miller uses names in this play extraordinarily. Not only does Miller use the names to get readers to correlate them with the main idea of the play, but he also uses names to provide some irony to the play. Miller uses the meanings of someRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller1628 Words   |  7 PagesArthur Miller wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning play Death of a Salesman in 1949. The play inflated the myth of the American Dream of prosperity and recognition, that hard work and integrity brings, but the play compels the world to see the ugly truth that capitalism and the materialistic world distort honesty and moral ethics. The play is a guide toward contemporary themes foreseen of the twentieth century, which are veiled with greed, power, and betrayal. Miller’s influence with the play spreadRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller949 Words   |  4 PagesDeath of a Salesman can be described as modern tragedy portraying the remaining days in the life of Willy Loman. This story is very complex, not only because of it’s use of past and present, but because of Willy’s lies that have continued to spiral out of control throughout his life. Arthur Miller puts a modern twist on Aristotle’s definition of ancient Greek tragedy when Willy Loman’s life story directly identifies the fatal flaw of the â€Å"American Dream†. Willy Loman’s tragic flaw can be recappedRead MoreThe Death Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller846 Words   |  4 PagesA Dime a Dozen The Death of a Salesman is a tragedy written by playwright Arthur Miller and told in the third person limited view. The play involves four main characters, Biff, Happy, Linda, and Willy Loman, an ordinary family trying to live the American Dream. Throughout the play however, the family begins to show that through their endeavors to live the American Dream, they are only hurting their selves. The play begins by hinting at Willy’s suicidal attempts as the play begins with Linda askingRead MoreDeath Of A Salesman By Arthur Miller Essay2538 Words   |  11 PagesSurname 1 McCain Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course: Date: Death of a Salesman Death of a salesman is a literature play written by American author Arthur Miller. The play was first published in the year 1949 and premiered on Broadway in the same year. Since then, it has had several performances. It has also received a lot of accordances and won numerous awards for its literature merit including the coveted Pulitzer for drama. The play is regarded by many critics as the perfectRead MoreDeath Of Salesman By Arthur Miller1475 Words   |  6 Pagesto death to achieve their so- called American dream. They live alone and there is no love of parents and siblings. They may have not noticed the America dream costs them so much, which will cause a bigger regret later. In the play Death of Salesman, Arthur Miller brings a great story of a man who is at very older age and still works hard to achieve his desire, which is the American dream. Later, he notices that his youth is gone and there is less energy in his body. Willy Loman is a salesman, whoRead MoreDeath Of A Sales man By Arthur Miller2081 Words   |  9 Pages#1 â€Å"Death of a Salesman† by Arthur Miller is a tragedy, this play has only two acts and does not include scenes in the acts. Instead of cutting from scene to scene, there is a description of how the lighting focuses on a different place or time-period, which from there, they continue on in a different setting. The play doesn’t go in chronological order. A lot of the play is present in Willy’s flashbacks or memories of events. This provides an explanation of why the characters are acting a certain

Argentinas Economic Crisis free essay sample

To divert attention from increasingly severe political and economic problems, in 1982 the junta ordered an invasion of the nearby Falkland Islands, a British territory that Argentina had long claimed. British forces counterattacked and took back the islands. A huge debt was accrued as a result of the war and at the end of the military government in 1983, the country’s industries unemployment were severely affected (Saxton, 2003). In 1983, the junta transferred power to an elected civilian president, Raul Alfonsin of the Radical Civic Union party. The new government’s plans included stabilizing the economy and introducing a new currency known as the austral. New loans were taken out and state eventually was unable to pay the interest on debt and eventually the confidence in austral collapsed. Inflation spiralled out of control, GDP shrank and wages fell by almost half. Following riots President Alfonsin stepped down six months before his term. In 1989, the Justicialist (Peronist) party’s Carlos Menem began governing and in 1991, he appointed Domingo Carvalho as the Minister of the Economy who introduced ‘Convertibility Law System’, which took effect on April 1, 1991. Saxton, 2004, p. 4). The Convertibility Law System ended the hyperinflation by establishing a pegged exchange rate with the U. S. dollar and backing the currency substantially with dollars. The aim was to ensure the acceptance of the currency after the 1989 and 1990 hyperinflation period, as people started rejecting the currency and demanding US dollars (Hill, 2011). The exchange rate was initially 10,000 Argentine australes per dollar; on January 1, 1992 the peso replaced the austral at 1 peso = 10,000 australes = US$1. 4 (Saxton, 2003) Argentines were allowed to use dollars freely, price stability was assured and the value of the currency was preserved. The quality of life was raised for many and people could afford to travel abroad, buy imported goods and ask for loans from banks at a low interest rate. Argentina attracted extensive foreign investment, which helped modernize its utilities, ports, railroads, banks, and other sectors (Saxton, 2003). However, the fixed exchange rate made imports cheap which lead to loss of Argentina’s industrial infrastructure and increase in unemployment. In the meantime, government spending continued and public debts grew substantially as government needed to borrow to finance external debt. However, the government showed no intention of paying debt off and also delayed payment schedules, while IMF kept lending money. Eventually in 1998 Argentina entered in a four-year recession, during which its economy shrank 28 percent (Saxton, 2003). This happened as a result of the Argentina exports were harmed by devaluation of Brazilian Real and international revaluation of the dollar effectively revaluing the peso against its major trading partners Brazil and the euro area (Hornbeck, 2002). By 1999, elected President De la Rua was left with a country where unemployment had risen to a critical point and the undesirable effects of the fixed exchange rate were showing. The De la Rua government was mainly worried about the federal budget deficit, which was 2. 5 percent of GDP in 1999. That left only one option: raising tax rates. President De la Rua secured approval for three big tax increases, effective January 2000, April 2001, and August 2001. Hence, massive tax evasion and money laundering happened also led to funds evaporating to offshore banks. In 2001, the freeze on bank deposits began, in response to large withdrawals as people started losing confidence in economy. The economy turned from recession to depression as people and businesses could not make payments. Credit evaporated. Many people took to the streets in angry demonstrations which also led to supermarket looting and President De la Rua resigning (Horbeck, 2002). By late 2001, the government tax revenues plunged as the economy contracted and the Argentina government defaulted in its debt repayments, effectively ‘rendering ? 80 billion of government issued bonds worthless’ (Hill, 2011, p. 99). The debt default to IMF was the final nail in the coffin and in early 2002, the government finally allowed the peso to float freely. Hence, the peso immediately fell $1=3. 5 pesos (Hill, 2011). Q1. A fixed exchange rate is an  exchange rate  for a  currency  where the government has decided to link the  value  to another currency or to some valuable commodity like gold. For example in 1990, Argentina fixed the exchange rate of the Argentinean peso to the U. S. dollar at $1=1 peso. A government may fix its currency by holding  reserves  of the  peg  (or the  asset  to which it is fixed) in the  central bank. For example, if a country fixes its currency to the  British pound, it must hold enough pounds in reserve to account for all of its currency in  circulation. Importantly, fixed exchange rates do not change according to  market  conditions. It is also called a pegged exchange rate. For most of the period between 1975 and 1990, Argentina experienced hyperinflation (averaging 325% a year)+, poor or negative  GDP  growth, a severe lack of confidence in the  national government  and the  Central Bank, and low levels of  capital  investment. After eight currency crises since the early 1970s,  inflation  peaked in 1989, reaching 5,000% that year. GDP was 10% lower than in 1980 and per capita GDP had fallen by over 20%. Fixed investment  fell by over half and, by 1989, could not cover yearly  depreciation   particularly in the industrial sector. Social indicators deteriorated seriously: real wages collapsed to about half of their 1974 peak and income poverty rates increased from 27% in 1980 to 47% in 1989. After the 1990s when Argentina fixed its Argentinean Peso against the Dollar, the economy started to settle and actually demonstrated the benefits that fixing an exchange rate can have. By adopting a fixed exchange rate, the government reduced uncertainties for all economic agents in the country. As businesses had the perfect knowledge that prices are fixed and therefore not going to change, hence they could plan ahead in their productions. The fixed exchange rate system avoids the wild day to day fluctuations that are likely to occur under flexible rates and that discourage specialisation in production and the flow of international trade and investment. Argentina implemented its currency board in April 1991. Its main achievement was in controlling inflation, which was brought down from more than 3,000% in 1989 to 3. 4% in 1994. Another major accomplishment of the system was renewed economic growth. Enjoying the high world prices of  primary products  (Argentinas main exports), GDP grew at an annual rate of 8% between 1991 until the  Tequila Effect  of 1995. Even after the  Mexican crisis, until 1998 the annual growth rate was 6%. International trade  also increased dramatically, reflecting the growing degree of openness of the country. Imports increased from US$ 11. 6 billion in 1991 to US$ 32. billion in 2000. Likewise, exports also increased from US$ 12. 1 billion in 1991 to US$ 30. 7 billion in 2000. 2) Why was Argentina unable to maintain its fixed exchange rate regime? What does this tell you about the limitations of a fixed exchange rate regime? In the end, the fixed exchange rate regime did not last and Argentina had to abandon this policy to regain its position in the market. This was mainly because the pegged value was devalued by many countries and this caused global economic growth to decline considerably and the demand of exported Argentina commodities to decrease sharply too. This in turn made Argentinean goods more expensive in other international markets. On top of this, with Brazil devaluing their own currency against the US dollar made matters worse for Argentina as this had an influence on their Argentinean peso, pricing their goods out of the market. The decline in global prices for farm products and the global economic slowdown only added to Argentina’s problems. Even though the fixed exchange rate policy had succeeded previously in strengthening Argentina’s competitive positioning in the global market and stimulated economic growth, this would not have survived for long. The fixed exchange rate regime contains many drawbacks and would not have worked forever, as maintaining this fixed exchange rate conflicted with many other macroeconomic objectives of the country. There was also less flexibility present in a fixed exchange rate policy and caused difficulty for Argentina to respond rapidly to the shocks in the market, as pressure was added on to the currency. This affected the competitiveness of the market and also inflation rates, thus causing Argentina to alter their policy further. However, this is proven to be difficult as some countries may see this as an unfair trade advantage to them, causing some degree of disagreement between certain countries, affecting their competitiveness in the economy and making it harder for them to defend its own currency. Question 3: Do you think that the IMF was correct to insist that the Argentinian government adopt a fiscal austerity program? What other approach could the IMF have taken? The Argentine monetary crisis hit in 1999, but the IMF had been working closely with Argentine government since 1991 and had supported the Peso’s peg to the US Dollar. IEO, 2003), (Stiglitz, 2002) The IMF (2003) considers their policies in the run up to the crisis to have been lax and based on too much optimism. The organisation blames structural weaknesses in the economy; mainly high public sector debt, as well as other factors like lack of labour market flexibility and their own enforcement on these issues. While supporting Argentina through lending, the IMF called for fiscal austerity in order to boost confidence and attract much needed international investment. (MacEwan, 2002), (Stiglitz, 2002), (IMF, 2003) The fund argues that an expansionary fiscal policy was ruled out because there was no surplus from which to spend and deficit spending would have caused the debt to grow at a higher rate than the economy. Furthermore, a budget deficit could have led to higher interest rates for borrowing. (IMF, 2003) Given the fixed exchange rate, an expansionary monetary policy, i. e. increasing the money supply, was not possible. (MacEwan, 2002), (IMF, 2003) MacEwan (2002) argues that fiscal austerity had the opposite effect and reduced markets’ confidence in the country, which led to a worsening of the crisis. An alternative view is that it is normal for a country to run a moderate budget deficit in a recession and that an expansionary fiscal policy would have been more appropriate. (Stiglitz, 2002), (MacEwan, 2002) MacEwan (2002) goes further and explains that â€Å"curtailing social spending on education, health care, physical infrastructure projects cuts the legs out from under long-term economic progress. † In recent years, in spite of the financial crisis and the still-recent default, the Argentine economy has been doing well, growing by 9. 2% in 2010 and 8. 8% in 2011 and is expected to grow at least 5. % in 2012, with the growth being attributed to both fiscal and monetary stimulus. (MarketWatch, 2011), (Dow Jones Newswires, 2012), (MercoPress, 2012) The expansionary policy has led to inflation rates of 22. 75%, which seem to be causing labour disputes when wage increases fail to keep up. (MercoPress, 2012) For conclusion, something like: Even considering the high inflation rate (22. 75%) and resulting labour disputes, the situation is preferable to the massive debt and street riots of 2001. Q4 In the end the Argentinean government was forced to abandon its peg to the dollar.