Deborah Hill Cone: Takes more than greedy gringos to smash this pinata

I promised my editor I wouldn't turn my column into a Letter from Argentina just because I am in Buenos Aires for a month. Turistas writing about BA are an

utter bore: tango, polo, steak, Evita, Paris of the South, yawn. But the fact is, being here is restoring my faith in grass roots capitalism and I have to share the good news.

Now is the time to head to an emerging market to escape the credit crunch and there seems to be a growing consensus that Latin America is poised for a better manana, relatively speaking. "So far credit in Brazil has been lightly chewed, not crunched," the Economist wrote this week in a positive piece about Latin America's largest economy. In comparison with what other countries are experiencing, Brazil's economy is in fair shape, it says. Another relatively

positive story comes from Colombia, which has been moving from a highly regulated to a free market economy for the past decade. Its central bank predicts the country's economic growth will be between 1 and 2 per cent this year.

Meanwhile, Argentina is always having financial problems so the tumultuous world situation comes as no great shock to Portenos (the 14 million people of Buenos Aires). They just get on with things. President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is reining in spending growth and S&P predicts the Argentine economy will grow by slightly below 1 per cent this year as it muddles through 2009. "Muddling through" is not too bad in a country which defaulted less than

a decade ago. The economy expanded 7 per cent last year after growing by more than 8 per cent in each of the previous five years.

Hustling is just part of the culture here. I used to think haggling over prices was rather vulgar but not any more - I am even learning the local slang like "Che Boludo" (which can mean anything from "you idiot" to "hey buddy"). And apart from the economic vigour, the lust for life of the Porteno is addictive.

People here like to party, no matter what the peso is doing. Last week some of my new Porteno friends took me out for a night in the trendy suburb of Palermo that made my usual Ponsonby Rd excursions look like a nana's afternoon tea. I couldn't do this too often - some of the bars they wanted to take me to didn't even open until 3am. The night included basil martinis, a kitsch bar called Kim y Novak (named after the Hitchcock blonde), lots of dancing to grungy

live Latino hip-hop and a few naughty Lucky Strikes (hey, cigarettes cost $2.50 a packet).

I'm not the only one who is enjoying heading from a developed economy to an emerging one. I have met expats like Chloe, 22, an American who works with refugees and has put off going to grad school at an Ivy League varsity because she likes it here so much. And Billie, 40, who sold her house in London to move down here five years ago to teach yoga and wheel and deal in the antiques business.

Perhaps the local Argentine response to the financial crisis is sanguine because it is a national trait to eschew obfuscation. "Although Argentines are extremely patriotic and will

not hesitate to tell you their country has the tallest mountains, the tastiest beef, the most beautiful women, the finest wine and the best soccer players in the world, they will also be quick to point out that their country is run by corrupt politicians and is full of bullshitters and crooks," writes James Bracken in the introduction to Che Boludo! - his dictionary of Argentine slang.

So if you're used to being taken for a ride by your glorious leaders, it will take more than a few greedy gringo bankers to hinchar las pelotas (give you a pain in the balls).

deborah@coneandco.com