Argentinian President Javier Milei
A Savant in Economy and Politics
Although many mainstream media outlets declared elected Argentinian President Javier Milei as some version of a Right-Wing Radical Trumpian Neo-Nazi (and many other epithets), he was arguably one of the most prepared presidential candidates in political history.
You just wouldn’t be able to tell by his hair, flair for the dramatic, crazy-passionate style, and the narrative created to discredit his rise to victory and fandom.
Milei is a political powerhouse who built a political party and a presidential victory after formally entering politics two years ago.
He’s a workaholic who captured the imagination of the Argentinian people by combining entertainment, truth bombs, unapologetic arguments in favor of liberal ideas, and a passionate dismantling of the leftist ideology that has sunk Argentina’s economy.
He has inspired a new way of thinking and a different path forward.
Nobody saw this coming, even though his ideas were spreading like wildfire among the youth and the dispossessed.
His rise to fame has been in the works for more than a decade. Appearing in many TV Shows as a pundit on economic matters.
As a professor of economics, he lectured the public for many years, arguing that socialist ideas are the culprit for Argentina’s misery.
He correctly predicted the dire economic situation before the inflation spikes were going to hit the economy. Creating rapport within the TV circles and the public at large.
As a writer of ten books and dozens of academic papers on the economy, having worked as chief economist in national and international government public bodies, think tanks, and private companies, makes him as prepared as anybody to tackle the economic issues ahead.
Mainly, to bring Argentina’s economy back to prominence.
Argentina is a country suffering from crippling debt, triple-digit inflation in the last year, a suffocating avalanche of regulation, and a government so focused on leftist ideas that it tries to solve all problems with a printing press.
Apart from the corruption typical of a developing country, it also has bought the pernicious idea of oppressor-oppressed and is solving that false dynamic by giving handouts to every single group it creates, putting heavy taxes on working people, corporations, restricting the free flow of commerce, and complicating the life of its citizens.
Argentinians are fed up with the system.
Half of the population is poor, with ten percent being indigent.
By any given measure, Argentina is way underperforming when it should be one of the economic powers in the hemisphere and the world.
It’s rich in farming land and natural resources like lithium, and it has a young working-age population and workforce. But it’s being held back by decades of socialist measures.
Benefitting the political class and the beneficiaries of its policies above the commonwealth of the people.
As a country, Argentina was one of the most educated in the whole American hemisphere.
It has been a cultural reference to Latin America, even though its importance has somewhat waned in recent decades.
They’re the birthplace of great artists like Cortázar, Gardel, and Borges, Spanish Rock Music references as Soda Estero, Enanitos Verdes, and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, great films and actors, and the best Spanish-speaking soccer team with legends like Maradona and Messi.
Now Argentina can be seen as a bellwether country in the cultural battle being fought in the whole world.
We are still exploring the idea of: “We do have more resources than at any point in history. Don’t we have to share it with everybody?” With the lingering and broader question of: “What are the best ideas for running (and ruining) a country?”
As Hispanics, we root for Argentina. We love their culture. We listen to their music, see their movies, and root for them in the World Cup.
Back in the day, it was a beacon of light and the closest thing we had as a cultured and developed country.
Now, Milei has been elected president and won by 11 points, a landslide in Argentinian politics.
He’s the closest thing they have as a Caudillo in the post-modern era. A strong man, although not militarily, but in strength, conviction, and charisma.
Some of Argentina’s main issues that Milei will try to fix are:
The triple-digit inflation, the highest in the world
Thousands of regulations (more than 16000) have a chokehold on the economy
A labor market that’s more than 50% informal because of its ineffectiveness.
The main root of these issues is government overspending. He has a very ambitious plan to change many laws and free the market of its structural issues.
A plan that’s being debated right now in Congress.
He’s taking more personal measures of not using private jets or helicopters to move around, choosing commercial flights, and driving.
With the “No hay plata” as his call sign. “There’s no money”. When asked about spending on a government plan.
Milei is the best shot to change course and right the ship.
But there’s intense opposition to the previous administrations’ status quo, not liking the measures that infringe on the authority and cash that was provided to government figures, friends, and groups.
There have been mobilizations and strikes from organizations that have not voiced their concern for the previous four years. Giving it a taste of blocking a government that has just started.
We need Argentina to be better on the world stage, we need it to set the path in the darkness of Latin America’s overall, and decades-long, mediocrity.
Argentina has lost its identity.
We need them back.
We need good ideas to change their culture. And maybe the rest of Latin America can notice and change with them.
Milei and his new liberal ideas are a step in the right direction.
Let’s hope it goes well for them.
May God bless Argentina.
Editorial Edit: for some reason this post was supposed to publish days after he won the election.