Argentina’s Javier Milei is setting a great example for all world leaders. It’s too bad most of them aren’t paying attention.
Times have been hard in Argentina, and the economically-minded libertarian Javier Milei ran for president of that South American nation on a platform of reducing regulations, reducing taxation, and shrinking government to make things better. And it’s starting to work.
Inflation in Argentina has dropped to the single digits under President Javier Milei’s strict spending cuts, but the cost of living remains exuberant.
In May, the Latin American nation saw its best month since Milei took office in December, when the monthly inflation rate cooled to 4.2% before inching up to 4.6% in June – a significant reduction from the three-decade high of 25.5% incurred by the end of 2023.
The cuts have been championed by Milei, who campaigned on taking a “chainsaw” to state spending and who has drastically slashed spending cuts on social programs, pensions and public works.
On assuming the presidency, Milei informed the Argentinian people that things would, by necessity, get tougher before they get better, and on that, as well, he was correct.
The libertarian president warned early on that things would have to get worse before they could start to get better for the Latin American nation.
Milei’s approach to cutting inflation, debt and stabilizing the peso has been hugely controversial, and investors are still watching to see if Milei can fully pull the nation out of a recession.
Humire also pointed out that just because inflation and the macroeconomics of Argentina appear to be on the up and up, doesn’t mean the average Argentinian will feel immediate positive effects.
“They need a little more time,” Humire said. “They’re still in a bad economic situation in terms of the day-to-day cost of living.
The situation in Argentina is reminiscent of America’s troubles in the Carter years, although their plight is even worse. The United States then was struggling under “stagflation,” and that crisis was dealt with in large part by making the cost of money (in the form of interest rates) higher to bring down inflation and stabilize the currency. That’s something of a gross oversimplification, of course, but the Reagan economy that resulted was vibrant and lasted until the dot-com crash of 2000.
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Javier Milei is trying to do the same to Argentina. He is, in essence, to reduce the role of government and to increase the regular Argentinian’s control over their own economic decisions. And the neat thing about liberty? It always works.
“He wants to turn Argentina into a beacon of economic prosperity based on economic freedom,” Humire said. “A lot of these cuts that he’s done in the public sector – it’s not that he’s trying to erase those functions inside the Argentine economy as a whole – he’s trying to transition them to the private sector.”
Argentina – the Argentine Republic, more properly – is a nation that should be prosperous. In the early 20th century, it was one of the wealthiest countries in the world. The population has high literacy rates, and the country has vast natural resources with solid bases in agriculture and industry.
Javier Milei wants to return to those early 20th century days economically, and he’s doing so in part by taking his famous chainsaw to the bloated Argentine government.
Can we get someone to go through our federal government just like this? Fuera! Fuera! Fuera!
