麻豆约拍

It is the end of an era in Argentine politics. This weekend voters will take the first step in choosing a successor to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. She or her late husband Nestor Kirchner have held office since 2003, the year after the country's financial crisis came to ahead with the biggest ever debt default. In this election the two leading candidates are Daniel Scioli of the outgoing president's Justicialist party, a group that has factions from both left and right, and Mauricio Macri of the centre-right Republican Proposal.

The Argentine economy has grown strongly in recent years, though lately it has slowed sharply and inflation has made an unwelcome return. So, how big an issue will the economy be now? Daniel Marx, a former senior official in the Finance Ministry and Central Bank, who now runs a firm called Quantum Finanzas in Buenos Aires, says the topic has gained more prominence. Critics of the Kirchner era say the government has been too ready to intervene in the economy.

So, what has it been like running a business under the outgoing president? Tomas Pando is the co-founder of a company, Paez, that makes footwear and accessories. A century ago Argentina was richer than Germany. Today, Germans are on average twice as well off. In the intervening years, Argentina has been through all sorts of political and economic changes, and faces another instalment with the vote on Sunday. South America business correspondent Daniel Gallas reflects on Argentina's varied economic history.

(Photo: A supporter at a political rally takes a 'selfie' ahead of Argentina's general election on 25 October 2015. Credit: AFP/Getty Images)