Carlos Grosso Speaks at GSD

Government deregulation and privatization have been the keys to economic recovery in inflationstrapped Argentina, Buenos Aires Mayor Carlos Grosso said in a speech at the Graduate School of Design yesterday.

"The problem in Argentina, as in many Latin American countries, was that explanations focused solely on the consequences and not the causes of our problems," Grosso said. "The first step [in economic reform] was to put the public agencies into private hands."

Speaking through an interpreter to a packed Piper Auditorium, Grosso said inflation in Argentina has dropped from more than 200 percent a month to less than 18 percent annually under the leadership of President Carlos Menem.

The South American mayor said that in addition to privatization, increased political stability under Menem has proved vital to economic reform.

"The recovery of state institutions was necessary if the economy was to be rebuilt," he said.

Grosso used his speech to announce plans for a new exchange program between the Graduate School of Design and the School of Architecture of Buenos Aires.

Grosso also called for increased social and economic cooperation in the Western hemisphere along the lines of the European Community.

"We [the nations of the Americas] will have to walk hand-in-hand, and I hope that we will be successful," Grosso said.