Argentina’s new president shakes things up
The economy of Argentina is struggling. 200 Argentine Pesos are worth a quarter. The poverty rate in Argentina is 40.1%.
One Man, Javier Milei, thinks he can turn this around. And he just became president of Argentina. He has made no secret of his views on Economics, naming his four dogs (Who are all clones after Right-Libertarian economists (Murray Rothbard, Milton Freidman, and Robert Lucas). They are all featured on his new presidential baton
During his campaign, he quickly made a name for himself with his anti-government rhetoric, famously tearing names of government agencies off a wall, declaring “afuera!” meaning "out" in spanish. He brandished a chainsaw, representing his plans to cut government spending. After he took office, he reduced the number of government ministries from 19 to 9, and has plans to dollarize their economy.
He recently attended the summit of the World Economic Forum at Davos, and during his speech, He slammed socialism, saying it inexorably leads to poverty. He also criticised collectivism, and said that Free-Trade Capitalism was the only way to end hunger and poverty. He cited data following human poverty over time, showing that it was Free Markets that lifted billions out of poverty.
Javier Milei certainly has big ideas, and even bigger plans, but will they work? We don’t know. Maybe Argentina will be a success story of pulling a country from the brink of collapse. Maybe Argentina is too far gone. We will have to see.