After a period of relative prosperity and renewed confidence, Argentines are living through another moment of uncertainty. The failed effort to raise taxes on farmers, and now a move by Mrs. Kirchner to nationalize some 86 billion pesos (nearly $26 billion) in private pension funds, has raised fears that the government is short on cash. Mrs. Kirchner said the pension takeover was necessary to safeguard retirees’ savings from turbulence in the global economy.

Image Orders for bikinis are down by more than 15 percent at the Innocenza factory in Buenos Aires. Credit... Nicolas Goldberg for The New York Times

But the move, which requires legislative approval, has alarmed international investors, who see it as an admission that the government will grab whatever cash it needs to avoid losing political support before regional elections next year.

Now Argentines are getting that familiar feeling of being let down by their government again. Millions were caught flat-footed in December 2001, when the government tried to limit withdrawals of bank savings. The measure backfired, causing a panic as Argentines rushed to pull out whatever they could. The country then defaulted on billions of dollars of loans, and the government sharply devalued the currency. An economic malaise pushed more than half the country below the poverty line by late 2002, before a strong recovery began.

These days, there are browsers but few buyers at the Innocenza beachwear shop in the garment district. Its orders for bikinis are off by more than 15 percent.

“This is very frustrating, because we prepared hard for the season,” said Ariel Fritzler, the company’s commercial director. “People are paralyzed with uncertainty; they don’t know what to do. There is a definite feeling that 2001 could happen again.”

In many ways, Argentina is still living out the consequences of its last economic crisis. The previous government of Néstor Kirchner, Mrs. Kirchner’s husband, complicated matters by keeping utility prices artificially low and, more recently, “fudging” inflation figures to try to maintain popular support and avoid higher debt payments, said Rafael de la Fuente, chief economist for Latin America for BNP Paribas.

“Although you could see the cracks in the edifice, it was going O.K. until we had this credit crunch,” Mr. de la Fuente said. Now, “people are losing faith in the government’s ability to fund itself,” he said.