Argentina's coin crisis • Hacker News Board

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#31

Post by diego » Fri, Dec 05, 2008, 12:10 PM UTC

mattmaroon wrote: post #24

diego wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you need to take a bus to go to work. Buses have machines that only accept coins. If you don't have coins, you can't go to work. This is mostly an issue with one-peso coins, as the bus costs 90c. It's extremely stupid, and also self-fulfilling. Small businesses are afraid of running out of coins so they hoard them. It's really not that big of a deal if you don't take the bus (I either walk or drive depending…

So since bus fares have more than doubled, maybe it's a great time to be a taxi driver?

The ratio between a cab fare and a bus ride has been more or less constant for decades.

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#32

Post by eru » Fri, Dec 05, 2008, 3:57 PM UTC

gills wrote: post #13

mattmaroon wrote: post #3

This makes no sense to me. Why would people value a coin above face value, no matter how few there are? Isn't there significant arbitrage opportunity there then?

Why trust money printed by the same government that just looted your private pension? They also went through a national default and currency death not too many years ago. I've heard they don't trust the fiat money; coins, while still fiat money and made of cheap metal, are perceived to be worth more than paper. I couldn't tell you why... At least they still hold the shared illusion that their coins have value as mone…

> Why trust money printed by the same government that just looted your private pension?

You have to get some government money for you have to pay taxes in government money.

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#33

Post by alecco » Fri, Dec 05, 2008, 4:17 PM UTC

gibsonf1 wrote: post #14

Hmm, seems like a 1 peso bill would solve the problem more or less.

The 2 peso bills are so worn out you can barely recognize them.

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#34

Post by alecco » Fri, Dec 05, 2008, 4:26 PM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #23

So someone explain Canada to me, where they got rid of $1 and $2 bills, and visitors regularly complain about how they end up with pockets full of those coins.

Same in Britain. And everybody gives you funny looks when you pay with a fistful of coins. Sigh.

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#35

Post by simonista » Fri, Dec 05, 2008, 4:36 PM UTC

toffer wrote: post #15

I've been in Buenos Aires for about 2 months now, and it's still hard for me to believe how ridiculous this situation is. Two examples from my daily life: 1) I take the bus every day, which only accepts coins. So, everyday I have to figure out how to get more coins. One strategy I tried was to forgo the convenient subway card and actually stand on line to pay for a single fare card every time I happened to take the s…

I lived in Buenos Aires for four months at the beginning of the year and developed the exact same strategies. And the same thing often happened to me at the subway stations. I often resorted to buying some cheap piece of candy at a corner store to get coins.

It's amazing how you find yourself thinking, "okay this is $2.50 so if I pay with a five I'll get a 2 peso bill back and .50 in coins but if I pay with two 2 peso bills I'll get 1.50 back in coins."

P.S. check out 'Juana M.' definitely the best steak I had in the city. (Plus a real salad)

Re: Argentina's coin crisis

#36

Post by toffer » Sat, Dec 06, 2008, 3:36 PM UTC

simonista wrote: post #35

toffer wrote: post #15

I've been in Buenos Aires for about 2 months now, and it's still hard for me to believe how ridiculous this situation is. Two examples from my daily life: 1) I take the bus every day, which only accepts coins. So, everyday I have to figure out how to get more coins. One strategy I tried was to forgo the convenient subway card and actually stand on line to pay for a single fare card every time I happened to take the s…

I lived in Buenos Aires for four months at the beginning of the year and developed the exact same strategies. And the same thing often happened to me at the subway stations. I often resorted to buying some cheap piece of candy at a corner store to get coins. It's amazing how you find yourself thinking, "okay this is $2.50 so if I pay with a five I'll get a 2 peso bill back and .50 in coins but if I pay with two 2 pes…

Thanks for the Juana M tip. I hadn't heard of it, but I'll definitely check it out.

I love the steak here, but a real salad is a rare treat in BA!