Don’t cry for Argentina. Whoop it up. Strike up the band.
In the biggest election sonic boom in a major country since Trump sent Hillary to the canvas, Javier Milei, a free-market and openly libertarian economist who entered politics three years ago, bested Sergio Massa, the economy minister in the Peronist government who has presided over the hyperinflation that sent the poverty rate in Argentina to more than 40%. As we mentioned in previous Hotlines, the Argentine Peso almost literally wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. The WSJ labeled the economic climate in Argentina today as “the worst crisis in a generation.”
This is a BIG, BIG, deal. Finally, the Argentines have solidly rejected the Peronistas who first took power in 1946 and brought socialism, despair, and poverty to Buenos Aires. (We never could understand how Evita Peron was lionized by the left in South America and incredibly in the U.S. Juan and Evita Peron gave sanctuary to the Nazis after WW2, massively increased welfare, and socialized the economy.) CTUP fellow John Fund reminds us that “a century ago Argentina was one of the six wealthiest countries in the world. Now it ranks 66th, below Mexico and just above Russia.”
Meanwhile, Milei has promised to massively cut the bloated budget in Buenos Aires and has brought chainsaws to his rallies.
One report has found that only 6.2 million Argentines work in the formal private sector and pay taxes to support the almost 20 million people who are public workers, pensioners, or recipients of public subsidies.
Milei Promises to Take a Chain Saw to the Argentina Budget
The country has 46 million people and the only ones who have gotten rich are connected with the corruption of the government and a litany of self-serving politicians – many of whom have ended up in jail, including former president Christina Kirchner who was convicted on charges of stealing $1 billion. She makes Joe and Hunter Biden look like petty thieves.
If any of the mess that Argentina finds itself in sounds familiar, it should. The Argentines had the courage to support a radical course correction as they opted for far less government and far more freedom.
Could it happen here in the USA in 2024?
One year ago it took 6 Pesos to buy a U.S. dollar. Now it costs nearly 400 pesos to buy a dollar.
