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“Argentina elected right-wing libertarian Javier Milei as its new president [last] Sunday… Milei is pledging economic shock therapy. His plans include shutting the central bank, ditching the peso, and slashing spending, potentially painful reforms that resonated with voters angry at the economic malaise.” Reuters
The right is supportive of Milei, arguing that Argentina's desperate economic situation calls for radical change.
“Argentina faces a 12.4% monthly inflation rate, meaning its annual inflation rate exceeds 100%. It also has a 40.1% poverty rate — up nearly 4 points from 2022. Big government spending from left-of-center parties has been disastrous for the country… If backing freer trade, less government spending, and dollarization proves to be an effective way to reduce widespread poverty and hyperinflation in a developing country, Milei could show the world that libertarianism is not an unrealistic political ideology.”
Tom Joyce, Washington Examiner
“[Milei] has called for vast cuts to Argentina's government — a necessity, since Argentina has defaulted on its debts three times since 2001… Argentina's trajectory has been a total disaster area for decades, despite the glorification of Peronism at the hands of Hollywood. And, in fact, the markets are treating Milei's election as they should: Argentine stocks and bonds have jumped on Milei's election, mainly because he is the first leader of Argentina in generations who has a plan to actually avoid economic default.”
Ben Shapiro, Creators
“With a big personality, outsider persona and unique hair, Milei draws comparisons to former President Donald Trump — but make no mistake: Voters put him in office because of his ideas… When it comes down to brass tacks, voters will put their wallets and their families’ welfare first every time. In Argentina, as in America: It’s the economy, stupid.”
Editorial Board, New York Post
Some argue, “Economic libertarians who detest Trump for his trade, immigration, and cultural protectionism sought to rebuff the Milei-Trump comparison in an effort to claim the Argentine’s victory as their own. While Trump sought tariffs, Milei seeks free trade; while Trump protected entitlements like Social Security and Medicare, Milei wants to slash Argentina’s social safety net; while Trump is tough on drugs, Milei is pro-legalization…
“[Yet this analysis] misses the forest for the trees. Political movements gain character and take shape not simply through policy, but through the lived experiences of the voters. The geopolitical environment that finds Milei ascendant has undeniably been shaped by Trump’s gravitational pull. Trump fully exposed the rot of the neoliberal order and the mediocrity of the managerial class… Milei’s movement capitalized on what Trump set in motion nearly a decade ago.”
Bradley Devlin, American Conservative
The left is skeptical of Milei, arguing that his plans are likely to make Argentina's economy worse.
The left is skeptical of Milei, arguing that his plans are likely to make Argentina's economy worse.
“Milei has pledged to enact an austerity plan even more draconian than the one the International Monetary Fund has prescribed as part of Argentina’s repayment on a $44 billion line of credit…
“This includes cuts he claims will equal 15 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, privatizing ‘as many public companies as he can,’ in Milei’s words, ending free public healthcare, and replacing public education with a voucher system, the details of which remain murky at best. For a country with over 40 percent poverty through the first half of 2023, these proposals are nothing short of devastating.”
Jacob Sugarman, The Nation
“As much as Milei likes to think otherwise, his views are not original. The last Argentine military dictatorship came to power with the slogan ‘Downsizing the state is making the nation bigger.’ Its minister of economy, José Alfredo Martinez de Hoz, was a pre-Thatcher neoliberal who tried to deregulate the economy only for it to end up in disaster…
“In the 1990s, President Carlos Menem tried the same using a different political formula: He forced his own movement, Peronism, to embrace its historical nemesis, neoliberalism. His longest-serving minister of economy, Domingo Cavallo, deregulated the economy, while pegging the Argentine peso to the U.S. dollar to tame inflation. These policies resulted in the dramatic crisis of 2001-2002, with private savings frozen, the peso devalued and more than half the country living under the poverty line.”
Gabriel Pasquini, Washington Post
“Argentina’s vote feeds into a question coursing across the Americas, and indeed, the wider world: How will voter anger, justified and otherwise, transform politics? Facing low growth, rising crime and corruption — on top of the coronavirus pandemic, which hit South America particularly hard, disenchanted voters in Latin America clearly feel an overriding urge to kick the bums out…
“Democratic norms throughout the region are weakening. A Latinobarómetro poll this past summer surveyed thousands across Latin America, finding that only 48 percent of respondents said democracy is preferable to any other form of government, the lowest share since the poll began in 1995… Mr. Milei’s election should remind the Biden administration to pay more attention to Latin America’s unstable politics.”
Editorial Board, Washington Post
Libertarian Perspectives
“Americans who think they have little to learn from this spiraling South American country should realize that Argentina was once one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Historians point out that just before the beginning of World War I, Argentina was richer than the primary European powers, Germany and France, and almost twice as wealthy as Spain. Its per-capita gross domestic product was on par with that of Canada, and up until the Great Depression, it was one of the largest exporters of food in the world…
“In 1929, however, Argentina abandoned the gold standard, a move that was followed by new protectionist trade measures. The aftermath of World War II would usher in strongman Juan Perón, giving rise to Peronism, a blend of national socialism and fascism that would dominate Argentina’s political system for the next 75 years. Argentina’s triple-digit inflation might be new, but its economic dysfunction goes back decades. It defaulted on its debt three times in the last quarter century alone, even as it continued to expand the state’s role in (and grip over) the economy. All of this spelled disaster for Argentines.”
Jon Miltimore, Washington Examiner
“On social and economic issues, Milei has advocated reducing or eliminating the role of government. (The one arguable exception is his support for abortion laws, but that is an issue that has long divided libertarians.) America's conservatives are moving in the opposite direction: ginning up culture wars to justify further intrusions into individuals' right to live as they see fit, and competing with the progressive left to pander with promises of more economic interventions…
“Milei's election looks a lot like a rejection of the kind of economic nationalism that leading politicians in America are pushing, from Biden's ‘Buy American’ mandates to Trump's anti-trade and anti-immigration views… Milei's win should be a beacon to pro-freedom politicians in the northern hemisphere. Not only is it possible to run a campaign based on cutting the size and scope of government, but an unexpectedly large coalition of voters might be prepared to reward such boldness.”
Eric Boehm, Reason
