Milei Up Close
Argentina's libertarian president addresses a handful of anarchists, freedom-lovers and this Substack scribbler...
Joel Bowman, with today’s Note From the End of the World...
They came from all across the nation... libertarians, objectivists, anarcho-capitalists… cranks, kooks and crazies… freedom lovers of each and every stripe.
From the “Land of Fire,” down at the very End of the World, to the rugged high terrain, up Salta way... they came from Mendoza, too, malbec country, where the giant Andes loom... and from across the mighty Pampas, rich and fertile, where the gauchos once roamed free.
To the capital city they marched, La reina del Plata, all the libertarians in the land.
There were almost enough of us to set off the elevator alarm.
And yet, when El Presidente took the stage, we might well have been legion…
Up went the cries – “¡Javi!” “¡Vivá!” “¡Bravo!” – as the man with the motosierra waved to the crowd, embraced the hostess, and took his place, upright, on the edge of the chair.
What follows is a loose reconstruction of the ensuing conversation, compromised by our near-illegible shorthand, filtered by our amateur translation, and tempered by a disposition that inclines favorably to underdogs, die-hards and long-shots... especially when they prevail. (For these reasons and others, we will use quotation marks sparingly, and with a firm caveat lector in place.)
Liberty, Rediscovered
After the hoots and the howls settled and attendees took their seats in the half-empty theater, hostess María Marty, president of the Ayn Rand Center for Latin America, opened the discussion.
We have known each other for over nine years, Sra. Marty began, and today we sit here not over coffee in casual discussion, but with you as the president of the country.
It was clearly an emotional moment for the old friends. As the pair would discuss at length throughout the interview, liberty is something of a newfound (or perhaps “rediscovered” is a better word) notion in this part of the world. For so long have socialist parasites eaten out the beating heart of this once vibrant economy, hardly anyone alive today remembers a time when the phrase “to be rich like an Argentine” was uttered in good faith.
Milei thanked los jovenes (the youth) in his opening remarks, referring to them as “una piedra fundamental en esta construcción” (foundational in this project), marking a distinct turning in the political and cultural landscape in this country. It was, after all, a social media campaign, led by Milei’s spirited “meme warriors,” who disseminated the message of liberty across a whole new generation of Argentine voters... voters who saw clearly the road to Venezuela laid out before them by the self-serving statist quo... and who swung heavily for the charismatic candidate offering freedom and opportunity.
“There is something unusual about 20,000 kids reading Hayek,” Milei joked during the interview. “It’s just not normal.”
If demography is destiny, as they say, the future of Argentina looks bright indeed.
After chronicling how he came to occupy La Casa Rosada (Argentina’s answer to The White House), Milei quickly got to business outlining the job at hand.
Betraying a compulsive affinity for economic data, and endearing himself to the Austrian School econo-nerds in the audience, Milei combed through all the relevant figures... the fiscal cliff facing the heavily, perennially indebted nation when he took office, the escalating deficits, the swollen monetary base fueling the country’s flirtation with hyperinflation, the collapsing value of the local peso currency, the strangulating cost of the vast administrative state, the country’s leprous investment risk profile and plenty more besides.
The Road to Serfdom Freedom!
Clearly, there was much work to be done... and much hardship ahead for the long-suffering Argentine citizens, as their economy processes decades of doomed policy, debased money and the dastardly deeds of debauched politicos.
Ruinous inflation would take time to tamp down (Milei reckoned on 18-24 months), returning the budget to surplus would require austerity and patience (the president has committed to a “non-negotiable” account surplus) and the people would need to pass through un mal tiempo along the way.
And yet, even as austerity measures bite, as inflation (while slowing faster even than expected) continues to attrit purchasing power, and the population is weaned from a multi-generational, womb-to-tomb addiction to collectivist ideology, El Señor’s popularity continues to rise.
“It is important to note,” Milei observed, “that when we began this administration, only 20% of the Argentine people believed the economy was going to improve over the next twelve months. By mid January, that rate had gone up to 30%. By mid-February, it was 40%. Mid March, it was at 50%. And now, a clear majority of Argentines are confident that we are headed in the right direction, that the situation a year from now will be improved.”
When Sra. Marty asked how this could be, why la gente remain committed to following Milei through this necessary hardship, why they trust him, the president answered, simply:
“Because I tell them the truth, and they are not used to politicians telling the truth.”
~ Javier Milei
“No Hay Plata”
As readers of these pages will recall, Milei waited until Day 1 of his administration to deliver the hard truth to Argentine voters, whether they were ready to hear it or not.
“It is going to get worse before it gets better,” he told the thousands gathered in front of the Congress building in downtown Buenos Aires, daring to address them like adults.
“No hay plata.” (“There is no money.”)
And yet, Milei came with a message seldom heard down here, at the Fin del Mundo.
“There are reasons to be optimistic,” he told those gathered in the theater, visions of sugarplums chainsaws still dancing in their heads.
Government would have to be trimmed... ministries shuttered... gnocchis fired... corruption routed. Moreover, the means by which the parasitic “political caste” had led the nation to financial rack and ruin – money printing, seigniorage – would have to be outlawed, the perpetrators punished and jailed like the uncommon criminals they are at heart.
Milei’s first order of business, as any good economist knows: balance the books.
January saw the country’s first primary budget surplus in more than a dozen years. February followed in kind, as the chainsaw went to work pruning, lopping and shearing back the thorny brambles of the massively overgrown state.
Meanwhile, inflation continues to collapse… down from an eye-watering 25% month over month through January… to ~21% through February… to 13.2% through March… and a (projected) ~10% through April.
Accordingly, the country’s perceived investment risk (as measured by JP Morgan) has plummeted by 31.7% since Milei took office, to ~1,300 points. Analysts projections suggest that could drop to 1,100 points by mid-year, ushering in an ahead of schedule recovery, which Milei has predicted will be “V-shaped.”
Milei explained in no uncertain terms to the Argentine people what the problem was and how they arrived at such a lamentable juncture. He explained what needed to be done, including weathering some hard times. Uncharacteristically for a politician, he was honest, straightforward. Now the people are seeing nascent signs of hope as the administration’s measures are beginning to make an impact, and they are growing in confidence.
Throughout the first half of the conversation (until now), Milei appeared more or less relaxed, at home among his statistics and familiar with the economic data. It took but a single mention of the “S-word” (socialism) to assuage any fear that his fiery political conviction might be waning...
“The ideas of freedom are stronger, stronger than the damned political caste,” Milei bellowed, fists visibly clenched. “Because of this, I cannot stop. And I promise, I will not stop.”
Stay tuned for Part II of our Notes From (the Conference at) the End of the World, next time...
Cheers,
Joel
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For up here in the US, your Notes are a fresh breeze carrying hope - and faith that somewhere at least sanity is coming back. We ourselves are waiting with bated breath for November - and then we still have to get through to January 20th. And then beyond. Milei is right, this isn't going to be easy.
It is thrilling to see someone functioning in a political position embrace fully Liberty and demand it for his citizens. Thanks for the update Joel... encouraging.