Treachery in the Senate

Argentina's 'political caste' reveal their true colors...

“Yea, and if some god shall wreck me in the wine-dark deep, even so I will endure… For already have I suffered full much, and much have I toiled in perils of waves and war. Let this be added to the tale of those.”

~ Homer, from The Odyysey (Book 5, line 192)

Joel Bowman with today’s Note From the End of the World...

The plot thickens!

As faithful readers of these pages know, we’ve been following along with what we’re calling, with modest understatement, “The Greatest Political Experiment of Our Time.” 

From our front row seats, down here in Buenos Aires, Argentina, we watch on eagerly as the forces of liberty wage a colossal battle with the blood-sucking parasites of the state. 

Like Good vs Evil... Truth vs Deception... Jackie vs Marilyn, the struggle is one of epic proportions, replete with heroes and villains, treachery and knavery, and all the back-stabbing and throat-slitting you would expect from a war of truly Homeric proportions. 

And now comes a new turn... 

Nobody Said It Was Easy

One of the pillars of libertarian president Javier Milei’s economic reforms is the so-called “mega deregulation decree,” also known as the DNU (Decreto de Necesidad y Urgencia, or Decree of Necessity and Urgency). Sr. Milei issued the decree immediately upon taking office last December, and it has remained in place since. 

As reported in this space before, the mega decree essentially strips the administrative state of immense and overreaching powers to meddle in the country’s labor markets, leaving free people to determine with whom and under what conditions they choose to enter commercial relationships. It also paves the way for vast privatization of public sector assets, repeals cumbersome bureaucracy and generally tends to a more laissez-faire economic approach. 

One might think that liberating the dynamic powers of the free market would be heartily welcomed in a nation that has, for multiple generations now, suffered under the oppressive jackboot of socialist-style central planning (Peronism), during which the country went from boasting one of the richest economies in the world... to lamenting one of the poorest. 

And one would be right... if one were referring to the expressed interests of honest, hard working people. 

Only here – like other countries around the planet – honest, hard working people don’t vote in Congress... where, last week, Milei’s mega decree was given the thumbs down – 42 against to 25 in favor – by lawmakers in the Senate. Argentine law holds that, in order for the DNU to be successfully repealed, it must be voted down by both the upper (Senate) and lower (Chamber of Deputies) houses of congress. 

As of writing, the decree still stands... if precariously. 

“Et tu, Lousteau!”

Of course, upending years of corruption and rooting out special interests is no easy task. Like taking away a toddler’s candy... or a smackhead’s syringe... or a Generation Z’s non-binary pronoun... there’s bound to be temper tantrums, clinical withdrawals...and worse.

One of the dirty rotten turncoats, who voted along with the “political caste,” was Buenos Aires representative and CABA neighbor, Martín Lousteau. We recognized the equine-featured politico a few years ago, browsing at a deli market near our apartment, and failed to give him a nudge down the stairs. Of course, as an unreconstructed peacenik, we would never condone violence (except in unrealized, hypothetical retrospective), but we wouldn’t want to find ourselves in charge of packing his parachute, just in case... 

Meanwhile, the level-headed porteños appear to be staying the course... for now. A new study by the consulting firm Aresco shows that Sr. Milei maintains a very high approval rating among voters, at around 56.3%. Another survey showed 58% of Argentines believe that Congress should collaborate with the president and allow him to implement his economic plan.

Hmm... could this be because, contrary to the entrenched interests of the professional barnacles in Congress, working people out on the streets, in the factories, and on the farms are beginning to notice the positive change afoot? 

Hope Springs Eternal

February was the second month in a row that the country saw TWIN budget surpluses (surplus of both current account and capital and financial account)... after Milei’s government achieved the first such accounting feat in a dozen years back in January. Here’s regional bank, Itaú:

Argentina’s treasury ran another primary surplus in February, reaching ARS 1,232.5 billion, up from the deficit of ARS 228.1 billion posted one year earlier. The nominal fiscal balance stood at ARS 338.1 billion, from a deficit of ARS 485.6 billion in the same month one year ago. We estimate a sharp decline in the 12-month primary deficit to 0.7% of GDP (from the 2.9% estimated for 2023), while the nominal fiscal balance fell to -2.9% of GDP (from -4.7% in December). 

Inflation, the economy’s real Achilles heel, also continues to decelerate...with some supermarket chains even indicating early stages of price deflation.  

Officially, February’s month-over-month figure came in well below expectations at “just” 13.2%. And while that number is still difficult to fathom for those fortunate readers unaccustomed to using rubber bands as wallets and counting grocery bills in fat stacks of 1,000-peso bills, it marks a considerable improvement from January’s 25.2% and February’s 20.6%. Trajectory, too, is key here. Especially for struggling voters who need – and deserve – to see palpable results.

Of course, there are many battles ahead, many victories to win, and many wolves in sheep’s clothing to shear along the way, should the forces of freedom hope to prevail. 

Happily for lovers of liberty, the F-Word (Freedom) is spreading quickly... and the voluntary legions are keen to assert their rights, political parasites be damned. Already the tide is turning… but the war has only just begun.

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

Cheers,

Joel Bowman

P.S. As always, a heartfelt thanks to our dear members, whose subscriber dues make our work here possible. Unlike establishment bullhorns in the mainstream media, this publication is 100% independent and reader supported.

So if you’re enjoying our scribbles, but you‘re not already a member, please consider joining our rag-tag community of contrarians, independent thinkers and freedom lovers, here…