According to recent reports (such as the one from CEPA), more than 700 cases of labor conflict have been registered in the last period. The industry is the most affected sector (62% of cases), impacted by the closure of thousands of companies and an import liberalization that has left thousands of workers in the street. And although the government boasts of having "neutralized" the leaders, the reality in the popular neighborhoods shows a reconfiguration. Hunger and lack of food assistance have mobilized the grassroots once again, this time with broader support from sectors of the impoverished middle class.
The broken pocket: Purchasing power in free fall
The official narrative of the "V-shaped recovery" does not reach the shelves. The data for this month is alarming:
Minimum Wage: It has lost 35% of its real purchasing power since 2023.
Retirement Benefits: They have accumulated eight months of consecutive decline against the basic basket.
Domestic Consumption: Sales in retail stores and butcher shops fell 1.5% year-on-year just in January, reflecting that the engine of the domestic market is practically turned off.
The return of the "ghosts": What is happening with INDEC?
Amid this scenario of unrest, a crisis of institutional credibility has erupted. The recent resignation of Marco Lavagna from the direction of INDEC and the criminal complaints regarding the alleged manipulation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) have set off all alarms.
The controversy centers on the implementation of a "new consumption basket" which, coincidentally, yields significantly lower inflation figures than those reported by private consultancies and provincial statistical agencies.
For many technicians from the institute itself and the Argentine Society of Statistics, this methodological change—without the necessary transparency—is a re-edition of the intervention of 2007. The Milei government, which came in with the promise of truth, now faces the accusation of "breaking the thermometer" to avoid acknowledging that the fever of inflation is not decreasing.
The wear of the "Lion": The fall of the presidential image
Two years into his administration, the media shield and charisma of Javier Milei are beginning to show deep fissures. The latest surveys from February 2026 mark a turning point: for the first time in his term, opposition to the management exceeds 52% in most national polls (such as those from CB Consultora and Zentrix).
The sectors that held on to hope under the banner of "necessary sacrifice" in 2024 and 2025 are transforming into skepticism. The president's positive image has dropped below 40% in major urban centers, even affecting his hard core: the youth, who today face unemployment and precariousness rates that the narrative of "freedom" can no longer explain.
The doubt about INDEC: Data or design?
As we mentioned earlier, this wear is accelerated by the suspicion of statistical manipulation. If the citizen feels that the price of a loaf of bread has increased by 20% but INDEC reports a 4% increase, the basic contract of truth between rulers and the ruled is broken. The resignation of technical figures in the institute suggests that the government has decided that if reality does not align with the model, reality must be intervened.
Is it a "viable" model if it excludes the majority?
Here we enter the heart of the ethical and economic critique. The government celebrates the fiscal surplus and the approval of laws such as the Glacier Law to attract capital, but an unavoidable question arises: For whom is this economy viable?
A system that achieves fiscal balance at the expense of the 67% of the population considering their economic situation as "very bad" (according to surveys from this week) is not a stable model, but a pressure cooker.
Macro-economics can show "green" numbers on Wall Street while social fabric tears in the Conurbano, Rosario, or Córdoba, leading to a simple pot-banging protest that the government cannot contain resulting in a sudden drop in all stocks. When the loss of purchasing power is so drastic that it affects nutrition and access to basics, the model ceases to be an "economic theory" and becomes a high-risk social experiment.
Argentine history shows that models that rely solely on fiscal rigor and the exclusion of the vast majority end up collapsing under the very reality they attempt to hide. A country is not an Excel spreadsheet; if people are left out, the model is not successful in financial terms because there are no guarantees of social stability and therefore cannot provide any assurance to the market.
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