Take two neighbouring economies, both heavily dependent on commodity prices to make their trade figures look good. Give one an orthodox monetary policy, watch it embrace foreign investors and float its currency. Hand the other over to mavericks who have resorted to fixing prices, banning or taxing some of their own exports and baldly lying about the inflation rate. The result? The rascal-Argentina-continues to grow at a blistering 9% clip, while by contrast well-behaved Brazil plods along (see chart). Is it time to rewrite the economics textbooks? Argentines would like to think so. But there are signs that Brazil may yet come out ahead.rnBoth countries recently reported surprisingly strong gdp numbers. In the last quarter of 2007 Brazil grew at an annual-ised rate of 6.4% and Argentina at 8%. But the different reaction to these figures in the two countries was telling. Whereas Brazil's government showed concern, Argentina's touted the news as a vindication of its contrarian wisdom.
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