Argentina's Comeback Will Be Oversold

With the Latin American economy as a whole shrinking for the first time since 2009, the continent could use some economic good news. Yet the fate of past market darlings should give pause to their would-be champions. Recently, for instance, Goldman Sachs closed its BRIC fund -- an investment vehicle that it created after coining the acronym in 2001 to sell stocks and bonds from the booming economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China. After years of mounting losses, Goldman told the Securities and Exchange Commission that it did not see “significant asset growth in the foreseeable future.” The fate of BRIC poster-child Brazil is particularly instructive: It earned a cover on the Economist for stellar growth during the worldwide crisis of 2009; four years later, with the economy stagnating, the Economist recanted. Next year, Brazil’s economy is expected to shrink by as much as 2 percent.