You say “The vast majority of the Spanish squad is recruited from Spanish teams, overwhelmingly from Real Madrid and Barca, …”. In fact, the current squad has zero players from Real Madrid but 8 from Barcelona. Three are from Atletico de Madrid.
Spain demonstrates that authoritarian rule can provide the political conditions required for compressed industrialization. Argentina demonstrates that those conditions are far from sufficient. Authoritarian rule can concentrate political power, but industrialization depends on whether the state can convert that power into organizational capacity. Organizational capacity lies at the core of state capacity.
Spain’s industrial takeoff occurred under authoritarian rule, but it was not produced by authoritarianism alone. The regime created the political space to implement and sustain a new policy direction; it was the technocratic apparatus, macroeconomic discipline, access to external markets and industrial integration that converted that space into industrialization.
The Argentine state possessed the power to intervene in the economy and repress society, but lacked the capacity to organize different government departments, business interests, financial resources and foreign-exchange earnings into a sustained process of industrialization.
[In case people are interested in the 1978 World Cup, which Argentina hosted as well as being a finalist, I wrote a post a few years ago about the political economic background to a very notorious semi-finals match against Peru.]
'[T]he Peruvian team’s loss to its Argentine hosts in the 1978 World Cup forty years ago today, [was] a match widely considered to have been fixed by a military regime desperate for the reflected glory it would gain by Argentina winning the tournament. A writer for Vice UK wrote a good piece earlier this month that will give you all the facts, including an alleged half-time locker room visit to the Peruvian team by Henry Kissinger, who attended the game as a guest of the Junta. But the background of the story, where fractal internal struggles within the repressive apparatus were linked both to the death of the retired Army General originally in charge of the World Cup and, a few years later, to the attempted killing of the deputy Economy Minister by a bomb set to explode at the same minute we scored our fourth goal against Peru, can serve as a snapshot into what made the Process of National Reorganization such an enduringly pedagogical moment for the Argentine upper and upper-middle classes.
One of the most difficult things to explain about the Proceso is how in some respects it was not a dictatorship at all. Dictators, if we follow the original Roman model, are granted supreme individual authority to secure for the State unity of decision and speed of execution in its policies. Yet, after the overthrow of Isabel Perón in 1976, supreme power in Argentina was not decisively wielded by a single executive, but was split rather into three equal parts among the three heads of each of the Armed Forces, as was the formal machinery of state and even the public sphere (different services might assume control of different newspapers, or even create their own). Nor did power flow uninterrupted from the pinnacle of the Junta down to the smallest torture chamber, but was rather parceled out into an archipelago of repressive zones and sub-zones allocated to different commanders responding each to parallel chains of command joined together only tenuously at the top. The “Why” of this mechanism--what were the problems that the Junta was trying to solve by adopting such an almost pre-modern State structure– would take a separate post to explain, but our famous victory against Peru in the World Cup can give a usefully quick glimpse into the “How.” '
It was “interesting” how the social media narrative had turned Spain into the pesky little underdogs and Argentina into this evil empire. The luck Spain had to have Lamine Yamal, Pedro Sanchez and lots of AI slop instead of Sergio Ramos and Mariano Rajoy/Isabel Ayuso is incredible. And also the luck of zero Real Madrid players
Tooze nails what the convergence crowd refuses to hear: prosperity isn't a ratchet. It's a lease - and Argentina keeps missing rent.
Everyone romanticizes the pre-1914 boom. Top-ten GDP per capita, British capital, rails to the horizon. Nobody counts what came next. Since 1816, the very year Tooze anchors his chart, Argentina has defaulted on its sovereign debt nine separate times. Nine. That isn't bad luck; it's a business model.
The herd sees a country that in 1913 was richer than France and assumes wealth is destiny. It isn't. Foreign money laid that rail network, and foreign money walks. Uneven development isn't a starting line - it's a verdict a nation re-earns every generation.
Spain climbed. Argentina rented the penthouse and got evicted. The final just keeps the score.
And yet, despite having a bigger population, more than twice the per capita spending power, and being closer to NYC, I can guarantee that Spainish fans will outnumbered by Argentines in the stadium by 3 to 1 or more. That makes a difference. In the European leagues home teams win 50% more than visitors. Covid no-crowd games proved it wasn’t the pitch. In any World Cup, Argentina is always the home team.
It is important to compare the evolution of Argentina+England vs Spain. This returns us to the taboo topic of the virtues of such colonialism, yes, always to be measured against its horrors. Taboo, unfashionable, but necessary to understand if we are truly interested in fostering economic development .
Those valuations of Argentina’s major clubs are not correct and most likely reflect squad value. According to Forbes, River’s value is nearly three times higher than the numbers given here. Still a massive gap.
You say “The vast majority of the Spanish squad is recruited from Spanish teams, overwhelmingly from Real Madrid and Barca, …”. In fact, the current squad has zero players from Real Madrid but 8 from Barcelona. Three are from Atletico de Madrid.
Before Catalonia, football entered the iberian peninsula via Basque Country. The Athletic Club of Bilbao was founded in 1898. https://www.athletic-club.eus/en/club/history/
Congrats to Spain 🇪🇸
Excellent essay!
Spain demonstrates that authoritarian rule can provide the political conditions required for compressed industrialization. Argentina demonstrates that those conditions are far from sufficient. Authoritarian rule can concentrate political power, but industrialization depends on whether the state can convert that power into organizational capacity. Organizational capacity lies at the core of state capacity.
Spain’s industrial takeoff occurred under authoritarian rule, but it was not produced by authoritarianism alone. The regime created the political space to implement and sustain a new policy direction; it was the technocratic apparatus, macroeconomic discipline, access to external markets and industrial integration that converted that space into industrialization.
The Argentine state possessed the power to intervene in the economy and repress society, but lacked the capacity to organize different government departments, business interests, financial resources and foreign-exchange earnings into a sustained process of industrialization.
[In case people are interested in the 1978 World Cup, which Argentina hosted as well as being a finalist, I wrote a post a few years ago about the political economic background to a very notorious semi-finals match against Peru.]
'[T]he Peruvian team’s loss to its Argentine hosts in the 1978 World Cup forty years ago today, [was] a match widely considered to have been fixed by a military regime desperate for the reflected glory it would gain by Argentina winning the tournament. A writer for Vice UK wrote a good piece earlier this month that will give you all the facts, including an alleged half-time locker room visit to the Peruvian team by Henry Kissinger, who attended the game as a guest of the Junta. But the background of the story, where fractal internal struggles within the repressive apparatus were linked both to the death of the retired Army General originally in charge of the World Cup and, a few years later, to the attempted killing of the deputy Economy Minister by a bomb set to explode at the same minute we scored our fourth goal against Peru, can serve as a snapshot into what made the Process of National Reorganization such an enduringly pedagogical moment for the Argentine upper and upper-middle classes.
One of the most difficult things to explain about the Proceso is how in some respects it was not a dictatorship at all. Dictators, if we follow the original Roman model, are granted supreme individual authority to secure for the State unity of decision and speed of execution in its policies. Yet, after the overthrow of Isabel Perón in 1976, supreme power in Argentina was not decisively wielded by a single executive, but was split rather into three equal parts among the three heads of each of the Armed Forces, as was the formal machinery of state and even the public sphere (different services might assume control of different newspapers, or even create their own). Nor did power flow uninterrupted from the pinnacle of the Junta down to the smallest torture chamber, but was rather parceled out into an archipelago of repressive zones and sub-zones allocated to different commanders responding each to parallel chains of command joined together only tenuously at the top. The “Why” of this mechanism--what were the problems that the Junta was trying to solve by adopting such an almost pre-modern State structure– would take a separate post to explain, but our famous victory against Peru in the World Cup can give a usefully quick glimpse into the “How.” '
https://gabrielu941371.substack.com/p/a-dead-general-a-bombed-technocrat
It was “interesting” how the social media narrative had turned Spain into the pesky little underdogs and Argentina into this evil empire. The luck Spain had to have Lamine Yamal, Pedro Sanchez and lots of AI slop instead of Sergio Ramos and Mariano Rajoy/Isabel Ayuso is incredible. And also the luck of zero Real Madrid players
Tooze nails what the convergence crowd refuses to hear: prosperity isn't a ratchet. It's a lease - and Argentina keeps missing rent.
Everyone romanticizes the pre-1914 boom. Top-ten GDP per capita, British capital, rails to the horizon. Nobody counts what came next. Since 1816, the very year Tooze anchors his chart, Argentina has defaulted on its sovereign debt nine separate times. Nine. That isn't bad luck; it's a business model.
The herd sees a country that in 1913 was richer than France and assumes wealth is destiny. It isn't. Foreign money laid that rail network, and foreign money walks. Uneven development isn't a starting line - it's a verdict a nation re-earns every generation.
Spain climbed. Argentina rented the penthouse and got evicted. The final just keeps the score.
As the joke goes, “An Argentine is an Italian who speaks Spanish and thinks they’re British”
Interesting stuff. But why place “settler” (when referring to the societies/economies of the USA, Canada, Australia, etc.) in scare quotes?
And yet, despite having a bigger population, more than twice the per capita spending power, and being closer to NYC, I can guarantee that Spainish fans will outnumbered by Argentines in the stadium by 3 to 1 or more. That makes a difference. In the European leagues home teams win 50% more than visitors. Covid no-crowd games proved it wasn’t the pitch. In any World Cup, Argentina is always the home team.
And still no players front Real Madrid in the Spain twam
It is important to compare the evolution of Argentina+England vs Spain. This returns us to the taboo topic of the virtues of such colonialism, yes, always to be measured against its horrors. Taboo, unfashionable, but necessary to understand if we are truly interested in fostering economic development .
Yes, remarkable insights, enjoyed it! Tho no football fan! TY!
Those valuations of Argentina’s major clubs are not correct and most likely reflect squad value. According to Forbes, River’s value is nearly three times higher than the numbers given here. Still a massive gap.
Venezuelans: „If only we had had some dealing with the Brits we’d have a railway and would be better football players, now!“ Go Argentina!