Winter wastes, summer slows

The Argentinean winter is proving interesting, few cold days to speak of, with the temperature generally ranging between 13 – 20 degrees Celsius during the day, which from what I can gather is in fact warmer than Dublin…and it’s summer there!  Yesterday evening saw the conclusion of Euro 2012, a bipolar tournament which provided some fantastic group stage games only for the last 16, the quarter and semi-finals tending to be drab affairs, while the final ensured the tournament closed on a high note with Spain retaining their European crown and reaffirming their status as one of the one of the greatest teams seen on the international stage.

I was hoping for a Spain win as I spent the past nine months there, but, the possession dominating style which Wenger described as ‘retaining possession not to concede’ had driven me to simply stop watching their matches due to utter boredom.  Thankfully, the final did not disappoint and watching it via a good quality stream meant that I could enjoy the final and the excellence of the Spanish play, even though they were abetted significantly by the withdrawal of Thiago Motta only a matter of minutes following his introduction in the second half.  From that point on it was a case of damage limitation for the Italians.

It was a good match, and a perfect finish to the tournament.  With the players involved until this stage of the competition now returning to their respective clubs, it is interesting when one begins to analyse how different clubs are represented at international level.  Take the champions for instance, Spain, aside from David Silva (of Manchester City), their starting line-up represented predominantly Barcelona with six players and Real Madrid with four.  Such dominance demonstrates the sheer strength of the Spanish league and the success is  evidently generated through this homogeneity of abilities. Del Bosque the coach tends to retain a similar base of players; Iniesta (player of the tournament), Xavi, Busquets, with each being brought through the Barcelona academy.

Spain’s dominance is directly correlated to the adaption of Barcelona’s play since their recently departed coach Pep Guardiola took over in 2007.  Spain’s dominance stems from the inherent understanding of each other, not just as international colleagues but as team-mates throughout their playing career at club level.  Few countries could replicate such a feat, as most teams in other leagues have an equal proportion of natives and foreigners throughout the team.  You might argue that the German team was represented primarily by Bayern Munich, and this is true, but two of their most influential players are French (Ribery) and Dutch (Robben) respectively.  While Barcelona have a Messi, it is evident from Spain’s dominance that this side is capable of magic without the Argentinian maestro.  Del Bosque has the luxury of having a number of different Barcelona midfielders whom he can call upon to maintain continuity throughout the team and for me that is crucial to their success. 

So many teams over time have achieved success with players based across different clubs in different leagues, but could Spain’s supremacy on the international stage signify a shift in the international football paradigm?  Time will tell, but it until teams garner anything that resembles the understanding that the Spanish players have of one another, their positions and their role in the team leaves other teams with a lot of catching up to do.

Taking a brief look at the English set-up is interesting as there are a vast number of players from a host of different clubs representing the country.  Also, there appears to be uncertainty as to the best system to suit their style and members of the squad.  Without one particular club dominating the first team, like Barcelona, it ultimately remains an incredibly difficult task trying to bring together this group to play as a unit.  With up to six different teams being represented in the starting line-up it is almost impossible for the manager or any players to stamp their authority on a particular style.  This was also evidenced in the early demise of the Netherlands, with so many egos and different groupings making cohesion nigh-on impossible.

It seems that Spain like Barcelona has set the benchmark for international football, as international managers across the world have to begun to plot their downfall.  The biggest challenge is exemplified in the success of the Catalan giants over the past number of years.  Club coaches have been unable to break-down Barcelona with groups of players who they train with every day, national team coaches are tasked with breaking down the technically similar Spanish side with fewer resources and less time to train the players.  An impossible task? Nothing is, but I feel Spain are capable of another unprecedented consecutive World Cup victory.

Finally, with the end of Euro 2012 the football season remains another month and a half away, with constant transfer rumours being created by bored football fans, it is already getting quite tiresome considering the window opened yesterday.  As an Arsenal fan, changes are required but the general consensus is that changes will now happen once the job of moving on over-paid players to clubs who are are not willing to pay similar wages.  

Following a number of years of what appears to have been a manager with his hands tied financially and a team perpetually selling its best players, it would be great to see both finally coming to an end.  With £26 million spent already on two new acquisitions, it seems that the financial constraints are finally being lifted and it is likely that over the next two weeks we will know the destiny of Robin van Persie (best player category).

Could this be a turning point for Arsenal?  Will there be more acquisitions to follow?  Will van Persie and Walcott sign new contracts?

Finally, one has to appreciate the sound economic policies adopted by Wenger and his team, as Arsenal have acquired two players of better quality than Andy Carroll for £10 million pounds less.

It will be an interesting summer...

Increased participation; reduced dissipation

As the previous blog entry outlines, I am currently residing in Buenos Aires with my current status reading: unemployed.  This could change by the end of this week however.  Having sent close to a hundred CVs without reply, aside from a few automatic confirmatory responses acknowledging my application, until the weekend it was appearing as though an unpaid intern-ship in a good company was drifting further and further away.  The possibility of contributing to a Microfinance research firm is still on the cards, however, now approaching the final year of my degree, the pressing need for a telling internship exists more so than ever before.

There exists a burning desire to become part of the labour force which following many unsuccessful applications for a paid internship, (now accepting that an unpaid internship is the most probable way of being employed) is now manifesting itself in frustration.  As most are acutely aware, the importance of contacts in any line of work can never be underestimated as the ability to progress a CV further up the line ultimately differentiates it from the thousands of applicants competing for the same position.  At the lowest rung of the employment ladder, contacts appear ever more pronounced as once part of the labour force doors automatically open as the importance of a university qualification is then surpassed by relevant experience.

Having worked for a number of years in the financial services sector of Ireland it is understandable that people can become disheartened with their work.  It stems from a lack of motivation, opportunities, challenges, pigeonholing and bad management, with the former being the most prevalent.  Given my current predicament it is difficult to acknowledge a lack of motivation as competition for jobs is greater now than I can remember, with rudimentary jobs acquiring vast numbers of over-qualified applicants.  So, those that lack motivation have no excuse considering the pressure being put on by young and eager graduates.  There is another side which shows that the current situation of high demand and short supply is ultimately driving down labour costs for companies as the competition for places increases each year and graduates continuously have to undercut each other to obtain their desired job.

Although, it is not all skewed in favour of the company, with one year of university remaining until I graduate, the opportunity cost of pursuing paid employment now is too great as professional experience at this stage (albeit without charge) will carry far greater weight as I look for employment next year (or, alternatively pursue a Masters…), in the competitive Irish labour market.

Over the past two weeks I became ever more exasperated as the possibility of the necessary work experience (in Argentina) diminished with every passing week.  Until, on Saturday evening my fiancée, having spoken to a good friend of hers, mentioned of a contact which could possibly find an opening in a well respected international financial institution with an office in Buenos Aires.  The position would be unpaid, it will mean living on the bare minimum for a number of months but ultimately it will be worth every second of it.

Should the opportunity arise I will take it!

Lunch decided

The curios case of Buenos Aires

Following a year in Madrid, one can really appreciate the order, the food, the relative cost and its size; it is a marvellous place which aesthetically resembles the Argentina’s, Buenos Aires.  There’s no doubting that more similarities exist, but following my immediate arrival in the Argentine Capital from Madrid, the differences seem far more apparent. 

One has to appreciate the order which being part of the European Union (and the Euro) provides, although the currency Union is looking more fragile than ever before, as Spain is a marvellous country which I will return to, albeit for three hours following my return to Dublin from Buenos Aires, but certainly again in the future.  The reason why I highlight the stability provided by the Euro is for the simple reason that from my first moment in Buenos Aires the difficulty in making a rudimentary payment of rent is hindered by the landlord’s unwillingness to accept payment in anything but dollars.  I was acutely aware of the government imposed difficulties – which attempt to reduce the dependence on the dollar – prior to my arrival however; I could not have envisaged the scale of such problems and paranoia throughout the Capital.

I read an article in the economist highlighting Argentina’s protectionist policies which required the high-demand mobile phone the Blackberry to be produced in Tierra del Fuego, in the very south of the country.  I recall thinking at the time that the effects for Argentine consumers would be the inflation of prices for a luxury good (could this transcend across the economy as a whole), an economy which is continuously trying to become more independent (almost autarkic measures being imposed) and an unstable economy run by an ineffective government.

The last point was confirmed this year as Argentina’s populist Peronist party (lead by Cristina Fernandez) attempts to reduce the use of dollars as the reserve currency making it illegal for Argentines to get dollars, meaning an ever-increasing black market.  This policy might be seen as effective for increasing the use of Argentine Pesos, but when the prices of renting and purchasing property, for example, are quoted in dollars, life becomes that bit more complicated.  I performed a check on the RE/MAX (real estate agency/realtors) website and from what I have seen the majority of properties for rent/sale were quoted in dollars, creating great difficulties for the purchase of property by an Argentine national.  A recent conversation with some friends, (a couple; one Argentine, the other American) gave me a clear idea of the predicament facing locals.  There exists a considerable nexus between the treatment of nationals by nationals and the treatment of those from the United States or ‘Gringos’.  Whilst looking for an apartment, the Argentine rang numerous agencies repeatedly, to be fobbed off…repeatedly.  Eventually, the American attempted and as he described it, he ‘rang the same agency using his crudest Span-Americano accent and he was treated like a King’.

Latin America has oft been referred to as the United States’ backyard.  John Pilger has produced many documentaries on the treatment of Latin American countries by the hegemonic power that is the United States.  However, the attitude portrayed by Argentine nationals towards other nationals leads me to consider the self-perpetuity of the United States rise through different invasionary policies over the years, as demonstrated in this documentary with John Perkins and his take on Globalization.  Equality within a State is no bad thing, but prioritization of non-nationals over national’s goes against what Kirchner is attempting to do.  Her policies have now put a premium on anybody who has direct access to dollars or foreign currency for that matter, as confidence in the Argentine Peso diminishes.

Recently walking down Florida a popular tourist street in the Centro of Buenos Aires, I was quoted 5.7 pesos per dollar; the actual exchange rate is 4.5.  This is the black market, and men ranging from suited to street gear offer generous exchange rates.  Although appealing, one should be careful as stories about robberies are well known, while there appears to be a police present within ten metres of each person offering an exchange.  As tempting as an inflated exchange rate may appear, the risks are far too great. 

One has to be concerned for the Argentines as their access to the widely accepted reserve currency becomes more difficult; foreigners (not only those from the US) have greater opportunities within the South American State.  Baffling as it may seem, it’s true.  There is widespread anger in Argentina as inflation is soaring once again.  According to tradingeconomics.com, Argentina had an inflation rate of 9.9 per cent in May 2012, as Clarin a daily estimates that overall inflation for 2012 could reach 30%.  In a recent conversation with a Peronist (a pro-Christina Kirchner) in response to the high predicted rate of inflation, he stated that “¿qué economía ha crecido sin inflacción? / What economy has grown without inflation?”  A valid point, but such levels of inflation are unsustainable at best, at worst the economy will once again come grinding to an ever so tragic halt.  The rise in prices has been moderately reflected with rises in wages, but it is nowhere near sufficient for the rate to remain sustainable.

Argentina is embarking upon unstable economic policies once again, creating uncertainty and difficulty throughout the Republic.  Since my arrival I have been shocked by the price of normal goods, which in a many cases surpass those of Madrid.  It is evident that the monetary policy is creating problems for business owners; for many the crisis of 2001 is still fresh in the memory.  Prices are on an upward trend and looking at the price of one good: coffee, for example, prices are twice, if not three times those of a similar coffee shop in Madrid, surpassing those of Ireland also. Considering the proximity to the crop it is a clear demonstration of the crippling tariffs imposed upon imports.

What I have listed above is a brief outline of some perceived problems faced by Argentines and the economy but there is something else that I have noticed since my arrival in the tango capital and that is paranoia…

Madrid

Finishing my second night in this exciting and vibrant city I am beginning to experience some of Madrid's finer things.  Most notably the beautiful climate which is constantly in the 20's, ranging from the low to high end, at the moment it is idyllic.

Although I am still without an apartment, I received a positive response regarding accommodation (near Plaza Espana, one of the most central points of Madrid) aside from that by received by a pesky Nigerian company trying to defraud me. They construct elaborate stories about how one has been chosen as the perfect candidate to live in their apartment and once one has been accepted, only minor formalities remain to be completed, these include: the sending of some ~€650+ via Western Union to an account while this trusted person sends 'the keys' to their house, which I would imagine - at best - are no more than the keys are from a keyboard placed in an envelope spelling the word H O U S E.  So be warned if something looks too good to be true; it probably is, just to be sure, send an email from a made-up account to make sure it is.

The previous night I stumbled across an appealing bar that I was eager to make my own, but this evening once I had finally picked up the courage to venture inside, after one beer I was soon forced out by nothing more than terrible music. Luckily though I chanced upon another 'local' which for €2.50 provided me with a bottle of beer and four free mussels, tasty.

In the next while I'll be going to Casa Labra which according to a few reviews is not only tasty but cheap. So, tapas tonight, and paella tomorrow, Madrid you are the city that keeps giving, aside from apartments.

Madrid, hasta ahora te amo, si no me das un apartamento tenemos problemas.

Waiver: This is no slight against Nigeria in any way, I simply checked the location of the telephone number they provided in the emails, even though they stated Toronto, Canada in the email, the area code was +234...