there's a lot of issues in the history of argentina that are brushed by in an attempt to make this a simple economic policy debate.

for example, they were quite politically unstable. there was a coup in the 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s. the ruling military government died in the 80s after a brief war. a prosperous economy is difficult to foster without a stable governmental structure, regardless of what that structure is.