Beginning in 2001, Weisbrot challenged the prevailing consensus on the Argentine economic crisis, arguing that IMF-supported austerity was counter-productive and that the country needed to devalue its currency in order to recover. After the Argentine government defaulted on its debt at the end of 2001, and allowed the currency to float against the dollar at the beginning of 2002, Weisbrot continued to argue against what he called harmful attempts by the IMF to influence policy in the post-default period. He later wrote papers arguing the Argentina's policies in the 2002-2011 period, after its default and separation from the IMF, were successful.