Lewis presents the third in a trilogy that includes The Crisis of Argentine Capitalism, which explored the political economy of Argentina from the late 19th century through the rule of Juan Peron, and Guerillas and Generals: The 'Dirty War' in Argentina, which concentrated on the causes and effects of political violence in the 1970s. In this volume, he returns to the political economy focus of the first volume, discussing the efforts of President Menem and President De la Rua to push through free trade policies and criticizing the populist policies of the later governments of Cristina and Néstor Kirchner, who he argues seek to 'extend state control to all aspects of the economy and to redistribute income derived from the most efficient sector, agriculture,' and threaten to repeat the mistakes of Peron, who Lewis blames for the chronic 'stagflation' (stagnant production and persistent inflation) that plagued the Argentine economy through the 1980s.
