Hyperinflation May Be Around the Corner in Argentina

This story sounds familiar. From an AP article on Fox NY:

Consumer prices are soaring, the treasury is running low on foreign currency and the peso has had its sharpest slide in 12 years. Instead of rioting, though, Argentines are falling back on tried and true survival skills to cope with the turmoil.

Inflation is at about 30 percent and there's been a 15 percent drop in the peso's value against the U.S. dollar over a few days. But Argentina has gone through five much more dire economic times since the 1930s.

So some Argentines are hoarding dollars, while others stockpile goods or plow their savings into real estate.

More people ride bikes now following recent increases in public transportation fares. They eat less at restaurants and cook at home. They buy cheap, pirated DVD copies of the latest films rather than go to the cinema.

Sofia Basualdo, a 43-year-old geography teacher, responded to growing inflation with a shopping spree to beat further price rises.

"I might pay one peso for a product today, but next week I'll likely have to pay two pesos," Basualdo said as she left a Buenos Aires supermarket pushing a shopping cart filled to the brim. "In this country, when you start smelling inflation it's best to buy and save."

It is interesting that people aren't hoarding gold, but hoarding dollars.