By Jonathan B. Wight

I have no idea what the Congress of Social Responsibility is or who is promoting it.

But someone of power and might must be backing it, to attract
Paul Krugman, Amartya Sen, Nouriel Roubini, and others to Buenos Aires to be the plenary speakers last week.

Krugman has blogged about the Argentine government’s ill-disguised attempt to manipulate inflation figures. It goes without saying that if government cannot collect basic information without attempts to manipulate it, that is a grave breach of fiduciary responsibility.

My own experience in Brazil bears this out. The government at one time installed price controls on black beans in Rio (causing shortages), which nevertheless allowed the government to report a lower price of food.  It didn’t fool anybody but themselves.

It’s a good thing to promote social responsibility, especially as it relates to transparency and accountability.