So far, not so good

JUBILANT Argentines flooded the congressional plaza in Buenos Aires on May 3rd to rattle tambourines, shake banners and fly balloons emblazoned with the logo of YPF, Argentina's biggest oil company, after Congress had firmly approved its nationalisation. The seizure of YPF was the most drastic step yet in the campaign by Cristina Fernández, the president, to bring “strategic” industries back under government control. The country's privatisations in the 1990s are now seen as a corrupt fire sale of the state's crown jewels, and a recent poll found that 62% of Argentines supported the confiscation. But the government's record of managing expropriated firms does not bode well for YPF's future.

Among the first moves Néstor Kirchner, Ms Fernández's late husband, made on becoming president in 2003 was the renationalisation of Correo Argentino, the country's postal service. At the time this was seen as a swipe at Grupo Macri, the concession holder, because the son of its boss had become an opposition politician. It turned out to be the start of a trend: Kirchner later took over the railways, a radio-spectrum operator, a shipyard and a water company. Since succeeding him in 2007, Ms Fernández has netted bigger fish: before grabbing YPF last month, she had expropriated Argentina's private pension funds and its flagship airline.