The Argentines last week estimated their government budget deficit for 1965 at $860 million—and that was just an optimistic guess. The actual deficit, say economists, is likely to be closer to $1 billion. Moreover, better than half of the red ink flows from a handful of state-owned enterprises that seem to succeed only in costing the country money. The state oil monopoly, Y.P.F., is expected to lose $120 million this year; millions more go for the state-run airline and merchant fleets.
The champion of them all is Argentina's nationalized railroad system. The...