comment: >
  
  lol ,Argentina has crazy inflation
context: This is for regional trade only. I dont know how they didnt specify that in the article >
  
  I studied economics and i've never heard of a currency for regional trade only. Are there other examples of this? >
  
  The US dollar often performs this role in trade between countries with volatile currencies.
  The sur will basically act like the dollar but will not be controlled by the US.
  This is little more than a trial run for South America to not be dependent on the dollar or the yuan in the way that Europe is not dependent on the dollar or the yuan. A new currency makes sense because there is no fiat currency in South America that is stable enough to perform this role.
  The most cynical take is that leftist leaders are looking to create a sanction-proof economy. >
  
  And that last take is pretty irrelevant anyways cous by the years end Argentina has a national election and the left wing government is expected to lose massively, I mean their poll numbers are horrid and there expected candidate can’t run anymore because of a corruption case. >
  
  What are the chances that the new Argentian government continues this? >
  
  Depends on how they feel about Lula and even the right wing candidate who wins the first round and how the election goes.
  If they run a campaign of anti chavismo/leftism it may kill this program, if they run on a pro west platform it could hurt it. So it really depends. >
  
  Argentina needs to do something with its currency. 2022 inflation rate was nearly 100%. That means 100.00 would buy half as much in December as it did in January >
  
  I'm in Buenos Aires. I got here a month ago. Some people here convert their salaries into dollars as fast as possible when they can. You can also easily sell dollars/euros in grey/dark market currency exchanges.
  The banknotes are ridiculous. The biggest banknote is worth about USD 2.70, so people have to deal with tons of banknotes anytime they want to buy something a bit expensive. I'm not sure why they're not printing bigger banknotes. Probably because they're in denial or afraid of causing even more inflation out of panic.
  Paying by card here isn't really a thing (as a foreigner), as you get charged with the shitty official rate. This has supposedly changed last month, but my cards (Revolut/Wise) still charge me the official rate, which is 50% worse. >
  
  Use Wise to buy crypto in binance. Go to crypto cave and cash out. About 5-6% loss but hey, better than half of it >
  
  Thanks. I thought about that but honestly Western Union is just easier. The rate is about the same. >
  
  It is! But beware that there is a limit of 700k pesos a year. Everything above that will trigger alarms in WU that will get you restricted access or banned from the service, and investigated by the AFIP. >
  
  Ah, that's interesting, I didn't know, thank you. I probably won't go over the limit because I'm only staying for 3 months, but if I come back this year it might be an issue. >
  
  You are welcome my friend! Have fun in our country! >
  
  Do you know what they check exactly? The passport number?
  I guess I'll just switch to crypto if I have that problem. I guess there is always a way... >
  
  Yes passport number or DNI if you are argentinian. >
  
  Thank you! >
  
  The success of any currency is tied strongly to whoever controls the presses/mints. If the controller of that office(s) is relatively isolated from politics, held to high standards of non-corruption by at least relatively non-corrupt law enforcers, and knowledgeable of the theoretical and practical rules on how to manage a currency developed over centuries of trial and error, then a shared currency should be a valuable thing, reducing trade friction between the two nations and if extended across all of South and later Latin America, could provide a valuable boost to their economy.
  If the countries involved are not able to hold themselves to that high standard (a standard that often means inducing recessions and hurting people’s standards of living to protect the currency, which is very politically volatile, and in poorer nations or those lacking social safety nets, deadly to the less well off parts of a nation), then the currency will fail at the first sign of trouble.
  If it ends up replacing local currency for most transactions (which if successful it probably will given the historical instability of much of South America) that will mean that the central banks of the participating countries will lose valuable tools to help manage their economy. If one country enters a recession while the rest of the participating countries are still in their boom phase, the central bank(s) of the new currency will want to be increasing interest rates and slowing down how much currency is minted to reduce economic growth to prevent inflation from getting too high, which is the opposite of what you want to do during a recession and thus will make the recession of the one country much worse while the central bank(s) tries to bring the boom-bust cycle of the other countries in line with the currently busting country. It means that longterm, the participating countries will need to tie their economies together well, and as the Europe has demonstrated, it is difficult to keep economies connected if politics diverge and thus it will almost certainly necessitate a combined political system, i.e. a Union state, which brings about its own host of problems.
  I do hope that they are able to successfully pull this off, but there are a lot of challenges to trying to replicate even a fraction of what the EU has accomplished that should not be discredited. If the people of both nations are willing to press forward with this idea sun or snow be damned believing in the longterm prospects of this relationship and willing to have honest conversations about how to make it work, then it’ll probably succeed. If most people start questioning it when the first bump is hit and prefer to end it rather than try to fix it, then it will not last long. >
  
  A bit suicidal from Brazil >
  
  There's a big misconception on this issue, the countries are not going to replace their currencies. This is only a new currency that will be used between all countries that adhere to it on import/export contracts between themselves to replace the us dollar. >
  
  This is even more stupid than unified currency, what a chaos that would be for central banks >
  
  I think Euroland used the ECU for these purposes prior to the launch of the Euro.  Mainly for transfers between the national governments and The Commission.
  You also have to factor that it's a Latin Socialists dream to get rid of the Yankee Dollar and Yankee influence.. >
  
  Not that you can really blame them... >
  
  LMAO I doubt any sane Brazilian would want anything to do with our currency,we don't even want it ourselves >
  
  It wouldn't replace your regular currency it would replace the dollar in large trade operations. >
  
  Everyone is saying that it would be suicidal for Brazil, but at the same time forgetting how the implementation of the Euro actually benefitted European countries that already had strong economies (Germany, France) much more than weaker economy ones such as Greece and Portugal. The idea itself could be prosperous for both countries, depending on how the plan for the common currency would be executed, but in the end probably it would benefit Brazil more than Argentina (and probably more than Uruguay and Paraguay too as they are part of the Mercosur) >
  
  The Eurozone is like a teepee, where all the poles are propping each other up. Not all the poles are of equal length or strength, but it mostly works, despite some poles having the potential to bring the whole structure down.
  This is more like ... Argentina is a house on fire and Brazil is laying a trail of gasoline stretching from Argentina right and right through its doorway.
  I do not wish Brazil I'll fortune, I have such high hopes for it after Bolsonaro, and I applaud its neighborliness. But I do not see this working out at all, unless Argentina has zero input, because they will absolutely manipulate the currency. And even then, Argentina is such a fuck up that this wouldn't be Brazil propping up Argentina, but Argentina undermining Brazil. I would not trust Argentina with fiscal policy in the same way I would not trust a drug addict with drugs; it is inevitable they will abuse it. >
  
  It's for trade between the two countries only, Brazil is not going to drop the real for a shared currency with Argentina. >
  
  But the sur will still be a currency subject to manipulation, since Argentina is involved in setting its value. >
  
  Sure, you're right about the trust issue.
  Still, it's less risky than replacing our currency and apparently the potential benefits are enough to justify taking this risk in the eyes of the Bolsonaro administration and now Lula's too. >
  
  I don't see why Brazil should change its currency at all? As far as I'm aware, it's not going through any currency troubles.
  What Brazil, and whichever South American countries it can convince to join it, should do is form a cartel and refuse export raw minerals, only allow the export of processed goods to force the relocation of processors inside its borders and thus move up the value chain.
  Bad money drives out good, and I'm afraid that's what entering into any partnership with Argentina will guarantee. I know I'm being pessimistic, but its like people are engaging in magical thinking. >
  
  Your idea is good, but if history is any indication, that's just asking for regime change on that part of the continent. >
  
  This issue in Brazil and Argentina isn’t reliance on USD for trade. The issue is structural parts of their economies such as protectionist tariffs and corruption. >
  
  Is this a Euro-type situation? >
  
  Jesus Christ, why would anyone want to share currency with Argentina?! Does Brazil has a death wish? >
  
  What WWI-era Germany said of Austria-Hungary, Brazil will soon be saying of Argentina: "We are shackled to a corpse." >
  
  The political class sees a juicy payoff somewhere. >
  
  Sigh.
  Lula's gotta pay off favors, but damn, a suicide pact with Argentina is a tad excessive.
  Still better, by far, than Bolsonaro, though. >
  
  East Africa Federation and now this, it's like people just want to finance easier. I just don't know. >
  
  It is going to make world trade more easy between countries.