The Crisis trickles down to BA

Inflation has been a problem since we arrived. The most conservative estimates pin annual inflation at 30% but some say up to 80% on certain items. Last night we went to dinner at Empire Thai for my friend Sharon's 40th birthday celebration. My eyes bulged with sticker shock when I took a look at the menu. The entrees went for 35 to nearly 50 pesos each ($12-15US). This is double what it cost to eat there 8 months ago. The restaurant was nearly empty for a Saturday night except for our party of 15. We made an early-ish exit (2 hours is the max I can sit at a table) when my limbs started to swell and back ached so paid the waitress separately. Hugh had a chat with her about business and she admitted they were struggling. Their only customers now were expats and even those were few and far between. Their response (Argentines) seems to be - raise prices on the few customers you have left to make up for the shortfall. Not a good strategy. This place will not last long.

Yesterday afternoon Rachel and I visited a well referred hair stylist named Ryan (of Canada) who does the hair of friends Sharon, Amanda and Kara. His specialty is repair jobs on the oft-poorly executed Argentine mullet cut. I've been trying to grow my mullet disaster out for two months and Rach needed a color touch up so we headed over to his place. He admitted the US financial crisis had practically decimated his business in the past 3 weeks. His clients are expats - mostly North Americans and Europeans that want an english speaking stylist. He said many of them had already fled Argentina - heading home to manage/fret over/review their investments, real estate etc. The panic had set in and many felt uncomfortable being so far away as their financial lives collapsed. Another anecdote he shared was of a client who saw her net worth drop from $120 million to $20 million in one week. It's hard to feel sorry for someone like that - she won't be living on the street anytime soon but may have to scale back her P-Diddy yacht parties in the south of France. His prices are still reasonable (65 pesos/$22US for a cut) but he said he'll need to raise them next month to survive.