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Too Little, Too Late: Principles of Economics, Politics or the Law? The New Argentine International (External) Debt Restructuring Saga

Argentina and its policymakers have managed the art of seductive economic crises, sovereign debt litigation, and international sovereign debt policy-making lobbying. Distressed debt hedge funds too. This short paper analyzes a recent public Council of the Americas’ intervention of Argentina's Minister of Economy on the country’s 2020 international (external) sovereign debt restructuring. In his intervention, the Minister argued that this time around the restructuring is different due to a different debt structure. The Minister also stated his principle-based position for the restructuring. The paper concludes that while the Minister's statements may hold at a macro level, at a micro level, Argentina's 2001 and 2020 restructurings converge on debt structure as defined by the Minister. On those terms, this time would not be that different. Preference and priority should also be not to do too little, too late. By analyzing key discourse of Argentina’s Minister of Economy, this paper contributes answers to two central and highly-argued questions on the country’s 2020 restructuring: Would this time be different? Would it be too little, too late?