The end of populism

CAR horns blared. Firecrackers lit up the sky. Yells of “Vamos!” rang out among Buenos Aires’s Parisian-style apartment buildings. The revellers were acting like football fans, but the win they were cheering on November 22nd was political. It was the upset victory of Mauricio Macri, the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, in a run-off election to become Argentina’s next president. Even more than most presidential transitions, Mr Macri’s triumph will begin a new era for the country, and perhaps for South America as a whole.

He takes over from Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who together with her late husband, Néstor Kirchner, governed for 12 years with a defiant populism that distorted the economy, made enemies at home and abroad and undermined institutions. Ms Fernández leaves her successor with an economy that has barely grown for four years, dwindling foreign-exchange reserves, inflation of around 25% and a budget deficit of more than 6% of GDP.