Debate Notes

Cheat sheet notes for presidential hopefuls Trump and Harris...

“The sun resounds as of old,
In rival-singing with his brother spheres”

~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, from the “Prologue in Heaven” that begins his monumental drama, Faust (1808)

Joel Bowman with today’s Note From the End of the World: Buenos Aires, Argentina...

This late summer evening, the world turns its weary eyes upon the main stage, for the ultimate display of panem et circenses. 

There, in the City of Brotherly Love, two candidates, one alleged Republican, one supposed Democrat, both of them featherless bipeds, will aim to prove, once and for all, that stupidity is the soul of politics.

Our guess: they’ll succeed. 

The story so far has been one for the ages, with twists and turns enough to make a Greek tragedian demure. Scandal and slander, sex and coups, show trials and lawfare galore, the billing promises the very best – which is to say, very worst – of all that modern day representative democracy has to offer. 

But we are through the looking glass, as they say. In this, the 60th Games of the US Presidential Olympics, nothing is quite as it seems. 

Today, in the year 2024, Kennedys stand with Republicans... Cheneys stand with Democrats... and according to vociferous voices resounding across both parties, only one side stands for democracy: theirs. 

And now, after all the blood and media propaganda, the bald-faced lies and the crafty omissions, the narrative crafting and the shady analysis, the whole sordid act hurtles toward its final denouement. 

The latest polls (if you were to believe them) show the race tightening in its final stages. ABC’s pollsters reckon it’s Harris by a cackle. Fox News has Trump by an ear. And here’s an NYT/Siena poll, which puts Mr. Trump in front by the barest of margins, a position he didn’t even enjoy when he won the 2016 election. 

With just 55 days to go, the race is “too close to call.” Everything hinges, we are told, on tonight’s debate. No doubt the Internet will be abuzz with all the fibs, flubs and faux pas along the way... and a nation will be left dumber for the experience. Bread and circuses, indeed. 

Fear not, dear reader... for whether you are Team Trump... Team Harris... or “none of the above”... the sun will rise tomorrow, same as it always does, to resound as of old, among its brotherly spheres. 

Meanwhile, down here at the other “End of the World,” in a country that is no stranger to telenovela-style political drama, we observe the emergence of a markedly different trend...

The End of the World

If American politicians want an edge... a sneak peek into the future... a cheeky look around the corner... they need only cast their gaze across Argentina’s fertile Pampas. Whatever blockhead idea US congressmen can dream up, whatever cockamamie scam, make-work boondoggle and collectivist “miracle” their know-it-all beltway politicos can envision, Argentina’s government has already “tried, tried and failed again.” 

Price controls... labor restrictions... onerous taxation... currency debasement... When it comes to monumentally retarding public policies, if Paul Krugman has advocated it, Argentina has gone to national pains suffering it. And then some. 

But nothing lasts forever, patient reader... not even stupidity. 

Having spent the last three-quarters of a century empowering state and federal governments, the long-suffering Argentines finally decided they could no longer tax and regulate themselves into prosperity. 

Standing on the brink of hyperinflation, with debts, deficits and decay as far as the eye could see, voters last year declared “¡Basta!” (Enough!) and made the only sensible move available to them: Elect a self-declared Enemy of the State, in president Javier Milei, to cut the whole disfigured Leviathan back to size. 

Here’s what he had to say during his own election campaign (attn: Trump and Harris, you may wish to take some notes):

“The state is a criminal organization that lives off a coercive source of income called taxes. In reality, it is a large scale criminal organization, worse than the common thief. Do the math: How many times does a common thief rob you in one year? The state steals from you every day, it steals from you all the time. Every time you spend something, the state is taking a part of that from you...”

What to do about such a rapacious situation, you may be wondering? Milei, again...

“We propose pro-market reforms to reduce the state and in the case of some services provided by the state, since you cannot eliminate them instantly without generating damage, what we propose are transitions in which the services continue to be provided, but within a more competitive environment. That is, until you can evolve towards a market solution.”

And how’s that going, nine months on?

Net Zero

After posting back-to-back-to-back quarterly budget surpluses, Milei announced on X today that he will present his Zero Deficit budget to the Argentine people this Sunday. From Milei’s own X account, just a few hours ago (translated from the Spanish):

On Sunday 15/9 at 9:00 pm I will present the National Budget under the ZERO DEFICIT rule in the Argentine National Congress. I invite you to witness a historic milestone that will mark a before and after in Argentine economic history.

LONG LIVE FREEDOM DAMN IT

The “ZERO DEFICIT” rule is designed, in part, to help the country rein in world-beating inflation by – get this! – the government “spending less than it steals.” Speaking of inflation, newswire Reuters has the latest:

BUENOS AIRES, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Argentina's monthly inflation rate is expected to have edged down to 3.9% in August, a Reuters poll of economists showed on Monday, the lowest since the start of 2022 although only just below the 4% level registered the previous month.

It’s the Stupid, Stupid!

That 4% per month figure is down from a massive 25.5% back in December, when Milei was first handed the reins to the galloping horse. And while inflation may not be of much interest to wealthy political donors and those suckling on the government’s teet, rising costs most severely impact those at the lower rungs of the economic ladder.

In 1992, democratic strategist Jim Carville famously told campaign staffers working on Bill Clinton’s election bid to focus their efforts on what mattered most to working Americans: “It’s the economy, stupid.”

One might think a simple Apples to Apples inflation comparison might be worth mentioning in tonight’s debate, back in the US. Annual inflation under Mr. Trump averaged 1.9%. Under the Biden-Harris administration, where we are told there is “zero daylight” on policy between The Big Guy Biden and Mrs. Veep, it’s been three times that much: 5.7%. 

Then again, as Friedrich Hayek reminds us, “If socialists understood economics... they wouldn’t be socialists.” 

Stay tuned for more Notes From the End of the World...

Cheers,

Joel Bowman

P.S. Might unpopular ideas – free markets, civil liberties, common sense – be enjoying a resurgence… even in the woke West?

Might thoughtful individuals be ready to ditch the ‘statist quo’ in favor of a more peaceful, voluntary existence?

Might citizens be ready to shrug off the illusion of choice proffered by their would-be political leaders and their puerile porters in the mainstream press?

Such a reality might be closer than you think. Already, millions of people in hundreds of countries have tuned out of state propaganda, meant only to divide, conquer and impoverish people.

How do we know?

Well, we don’t… but we have reason to be cautiously optimistic. Even these humble Notes now reach dear readers in all 50 states across the US… and in 134 countries around the world. Not bad, given that we only just kicked off this year.

Of course, the ideas of freedom, liberty and independence are not going to spread themselves. And that’s where our dear members come in. Thanks to their support, we are able to remain fully independent… which means no advertisements, no bosses and no bias.

Just free markets, free minds and free people… all the time.

If you’d like to support our work and join the growing community of folks interested in these lately resurgent ideas, please consider becoming a Notes member today. Cheers!