Investing in the End of the World
A special invitation for our dear Notes readers...
Joel Bowman with today’s Invitation From the End of the World: Buenos Aires, Argentina...
A special announcement today, dear reader, as promised.
Whether you’re just joining us... or you’ve been following along since the beginning, it’s been quite the ride so far.
We’re now (as of last week) one year into what we’ve been calling “The Greatest Political Experiment of Our Age.”
As you no doubt know, a libertarian is on the loose down here on the Pampas and, in President Javier Milei’s own words, he’s “detonating the state from within.”
That’s good news for free market advocates; not so much for “la casta” (political parasites, moochers and other barnacles on the hull of the great ship).
The results out of the “libertarian laboratory” so far have been nothing short of breathtaking. In the space of 12 short months, Milei’s administration:
Eliminated the fiscal deficit for the first time in 123 years
Slashed the size of the federal government from 18 ministries to 8 (with more cuts to come)
Rescued the local peso from the brink of hyperinflation... and made it the strongest performing currency on the planet, gaining 40.1% in 2024
Cut inflation from 25.5% to 2.4% per month (without tsarist price controls)
Handed 30,000 government “workers” their marching orders, with tens of thousands of “gnocchis” put on notice (State employees will henceforth be required to take aptitude tests)
Audited the ENTIRE public sector, including the Marxist Factories known as public “universities”
Lowered the country’s investment risk rating from 2,000 points to 750 points (and falling)
Liberated the property market by repealing the disastrous Rental Law, which resulted in a ~50% increase of inventory and stabilizing prices
Shuttered AFIP (federal tax bureau) and replaced it with the leaner, more efficient ARCA, reducing tax officers’ salaries by as much as 90% in the process
Canned bleating propaganda ministries, including the state-funded media arm (TELAM)
Passed the “Ley de Bases,” including foundational constitutional reforms aimed at privatizing enormous sectors of the Argentine economy, including the beleaguered national airline, Aerolíneas Argentinas
Met with world business leaders and tech CEOs, including Cook (Apple), Zuck (Meta), Pichai (Google), Altman (ChatGPT) and of course Mr. Musk (X, Tesla, SpaceX, DOGE, etc.) to talk about investment opportunities in Argentina
Criminalized seigniorage, making money-printing to pay for political promises a jailable offence
Eliminated monetary emissions and committed to a zero deficit policy...
... and plenty more. (Milei’s Ministry of Deregulation has been issuing an average of 1.84 deregulations per day, including weekends, since it began Operation Chainsaw. And confidential sources here have told us “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”)
This is quite the turn of events for the long suffering Argentine people, who are just now beginning to see the light at the end of a 75-year long, pitch black, collectivist tunnel. Even the bobbleheads in the mainstream press, reliably late to the party, are beginning to catch on:
Argentina’s much-mocked Javier Milei just might get the last laugh ~ opined The Washington Post
Argentina: has Javier Milei proved his critics wrong? ~ The Financial Times dared to wonder
Javier Milei Has Surprised Almost Everybody ~ declared Americas Quarterly (which might have added, “besides Notes readers...”)
And yet, anyone who bothers to notice that prosperity follows liberty, that free markets are superior to central planning, that private property and the rule of law and unalienable rights are central tenets of a free and prosperous society, knows that what we’re seeing here is just the beginning.
A year into the Greatest Political Experiment of Our Age, with all the success and liberation that’s come along with it, we’re ready to make our next prediction... and to invite you to be a part of it.
As countries around the world begin to notice Milei’s “proof of political concept,” we’ll see MORE... not less... nations taking their queue from the self-declared anarcho-capitalist and his chainsaw approach to wasteful government. (Those that don’t will simply fall further and further behind, drawn asunder by debts, deficits and degraded institutions.)
Indeed, this trend has already begun, and in the largest economy on the planet, no less. Here’s the legacy press, finally noticing what Notes readers have known for months...
Argentina's Milei achieves 'unthinkable'; Musk and Ramaswamy may have found their DOGE formula ~ The Economic Times
The Man Who 'Chainsawed' His Federal Bureaucracy Has Advice for Elon Musk ~ Newsweek
Argentina’s Milei is a VIP at Mar-a-Lago as Trump, Musk embrace his attacks on government spending ~ CNBC
All is proceeding as expected, in other words…
And yet, nation states are notoriously slow to “think”... and even slower to act. This is partly a systemic defect (entrenched interests, corrupted bureaucracy, blind centralization, what Hayek called the “knowledge problem,” etc.) and partly due to the sheer size of the state itself; it takes a lot to turn a Titanic (especially when it’s half submerged with debt.)
Our prediction: Before we see significant movement at the level of the Leviathan, we’ll see nimble, private investors piling into Argentina to tap the vast opportunities on offer in these newly liberated markets.
And this potential is difficult to overstate.
As the 8th largest country in the world, Argentina is rich in oil and gas and other key natural resources...most of which have suffered from drastic underinvestment for decades, thanks to unacceptable political risk.
The Vaca Muerta oil field in Patagonia, to take just one example, is an area the size of Belgium which holds the world's second largest shale gas reserves and fourth largest shale oil reserves on the planet.
Still a relative frontier in the global energy scene, it has huge promise. According to Rystad senior vice president, Ryan Carbrey, the Vaca Muerta geology is “as good or better than the majority of the US plays.”
Imagine piling into America’s shale revolution before it got off the ground...
Or how about the next wave of the EV revolution, which relies heavily on lithium for their lithium-ion batteries (they are energy dense, cost effective and have a longer lifespan than similar batteries).
The Lithium Triangle deposit, which Argentina shares with Chile and Bolivia, is estimated to hold around 54% of the world’s entire lithium reserves. And once again, it is considered something of a resource frontier. (Unsurprisingly, Elon Musk, he of Tesla fame, has expressed an interest in developing the project further...)
Javier Milei’s pro-market policies are directly targeting foreign investment which, for three-quarters of a century, has largely been sidelined thanks to political risk.
For readers who’ve been with us from the beginning, we’re now moving into the next phase of this story... from the Greatest Political Experiment of Our Age to Investing in the End of the World.
To help us navigate the rich landscape (and identify the potential risks and rewards involved), we’ve asked three of our favorite big picture thinkers and professional investors to act as guides.
It is with much excitement, therefore, that we are able to announce the very first:
Investing in the End of the World Virtual Summit, featuring Rick Rule, Eric Fry and Byron King…
The exclusive event is scheduled for January 8, between 2-4pm Eastern Time, during which our esteemed guest speakers will take Notes readers on a deep dive into the opportunities of investing in Argentina’s long awaited renaissance.
We’ve known Messrs. Rule, Fry and King personally for twenty-plus years and can confidently say, we’re thrilled to have three of the brightest minds in the business appear on our inaugural Investing in the End of the World Virtual Summit.
As a special thanks to Notes readers, we’d like to invite you to tune in to our live event, January 8, at 2pm Eastern Time. Simply register for the Zoom meeting below and we’ll send you a confirmation email.
It’s been a thrilling ride so far, watching the Greatest Political Experiment of Our Time from the front row seats. Now it’s time for the next phase.
Register for our Investing in the End of the World Virtual Summit Here:
We hope you can join us.
Cheers,
Joel Bowman
Founder, Notes From the End of the World
P.S. Notes Members will receive a complete audio-video recording of the event, to watch anytime, along with a full transcript (including information on any companies, sectors and investment opportunities identified by our guest speakers).
If you’re not already a Notes Member, but would like to take advantage of these special benefits, please consider joining our growing community today. Cheers ~ JB
Become a Notes Member here: