And speaking of personal accounts for Social Security, Chile famously did it back in the 1980s and workers got very high returns for their retirement years.

That was just one of many free market and tight money policies implemented in Chile starting in 1980. The combination of low tax rates, privatization, sound money, and personal retirement accounts made Chile the jewel of South America.  Between 1980 and 2019, poverty fell from 45% to 6%, and per capita income tripled to $24,000 a year. Venezuala, which went in the socialist direction, saw their economy collapse and poverty surge.

But as we have previously reported, in 2021, Chileans elected a leftist government to overturn the free market policies, and inflation and poverty rates surged. Now Chileans may be headed back to economic freedom and bigger paychecks.

In the first round of last week’s presidential election, over 50% of Chilean voters backed one of three clearly conservative candidates. Next month, a runoff will be held between Jose Antonio Kast, who counts Argentina’s Javier Milei and President Trump as political allies, and Jeanette Jara, a Communist Party member and former labor minister in the current left-wing government.

If the Chilean voters elect Kast, poverty rates in Chile are likely to rapidly decline and per capita income is expected to rise.