The election of Mauricio Macri, leader of the Cambiemos (“Let’s Change”) coalition, to the presidency should not be seen as yet another shift in Argentina’s policy pendulum. Over the past decade the Nestor and Cristina Kirchner administrations pursued an ambitious program of state intervention, which included expansive social policies, subsidies for consumers of public utilities, and the nationalization of former state-owned oil company and the pensions system. These policies continue to enjoy wide support. Yet there is also a consensus that the macroeconomic imbalances inherited from Kirchnerismo need to be addressed. Macri’s mandate is therefore not one for state retrenchment, but rather for better management of state intervention. Can his administration pull it off? Economic Challenges Macri inherits a challenging economic …