The growth solution: the solution to Argentina's economic crisis lies in stimulating growth, not in restructuring borrowing. (Final Thoughts).

WITH THE ECONOmy in prolonged recession, there is no denying that Argentina faces challenging times.

A simplistic inspection of the facts has led some observers to infer that the problem lies with the country's debt. They are misguided, In the past, several countries have faced even more difficult situations in terms of their debt levels and have been able to pull out effectively Witness Ireland, which had a debt to gross domestic product ratio of 81 percent in 1995. Today, its level of debt is 40 per cent of GDP and continues to fall. The cure to debt problems is not write-offs but growth.

Yet there are many sirens on Wall Street and elsewhere who appear to believe that a reasonable approach to reignite growth would be to produce a compulsory restructuring of Argentina's debt. They are wrong. A forced …