Argentina: A Libertarian Success Story

“Ideas – when communicated with strength, passion, and clarity – can break free from academia and become popular culture.  And when that happens, politics has no escape.” – The Roar of Ideas

First, they ignore you.  Then they laugh at you. Then they attack you.  Then you win.  An adage misattributed to Mahatma Gandhi, its meaning states that most change is often met with resistance.  Every popular movement passes through these four phases.  This is the tale of the Argentinian president, Javier Milei. 

Largely tied to the populism of the Kirchnerists, policies of redistribution and government intervention, price controls, and state ownership of utilities, following the administrations of both Nestor and Cristina Kirchner from 2003-2015, Argentina's economic disaster led to inflation rates of 140 percent and a poverty rate of 40 percent, and stagnation with total public debt reaching 90 percent of GDP.  By 2022, half of the population relied on government transfer payments, with heavy taxation needed to fund the expanding welfare state.    

For Javier Milei, his rise was unremarkable at first.  He spent his early days as a private sector economist before becoming a reader of classical liberal thought and the philosophies of Friedrich Hayek, Ludwig von Mises, and Murray Rothbard.  Once inculcated with the advantages of Austrian Economics, Milei began speaking publicly about fiscal responsibility, private property, and individual accountability. He called the state the greatest enemy of wealth and proposed a radical reset.  In so doing, he properly diagnosed the problems in Argentina, and his predictions came to pass, giving him credibility as he discovered a receptive audience on TV.

Like Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who began his career as a comedian, Javier Milei also came to fame through the entertainment industry.  He became a household name when he used a prime-time program to disseminate his unique views on economics to the masses.  He yelled, and he used a chainsaw to advocate for cutting government spending.  He was rated gold for utilizing a chainsaw to advocate for cutting government spending.  Yet, Milei’s bombastic personality and unique look made him susceptible to claims of lunacy, all while his unusual appearance, his long hair, and long sideburns were tailor-made for social media.  His memes became a movement, initially local, then worldwide.  Known famously for his “Afuera”, or OUT! Phrase, he pulled the names of ministries from a bulletin board to portend his eventual demise of government agencies. 

He was fortuitously elected President of Argentina in 2023, winning 55.7 percent of the vote.  Once in office, Milei began to implement the lessons learned from his economic mentors.  He reduced the number of ministries from 18 to 8, including the ministries of culture, women, gender, diversity, and education.  He fired 50,000 government employees, cutting the size of government by 30 percent.  He deregulated businesses, froze infrastructure spending, and cut subsidies.  Without relying on usual price controls and fixed exchange rates, all gains were driven by the market.   He privatized the state-run media, which he often called the Ministry of Propaganda.   He slashed spending, dollarized the economy, and eliminated the central bank, all while advocating for free trade. 

By May 2025, Argentina saw its 7^th straight month of growth, driven largely by wage growth.  Under his leadership, Argentina went from a 13 percent deficit to a surplus in 1 year, while reducing inflation from 25 percent to 1.6 percent and decreasing public debt by 80 percent.  Poverty rate decreased from 53 percent to 31 percent in 1 year, with 2.4 million children removed from poverty according to a UNICEF report.  Extreme poverty drops from 18.2 percent to 7.4 percent.  Following his first two years, Argentina is expected to see a 71 billion dollar budget surplus, with growth rates of 7 percent, with investors returning for the first time in decades.  Fueled by manufacturing, especially in food production and automobile manufacturing, growth rates are outpacing both the United States and China, the world’s two biggest economies.  With his political libertarianism and free market economics focused on growth and fiscal discipline, he ended monetary deficits and balanced budgets. 

In all, he cut the size of government by cutting spending and taxes, and freed the market in his attempt to make Argentina the world’s freest economy.  Since his election, his approval rating has been rising, not falling, and currently stands at 63 percent, with 70 percent of Argentina’s population supportive of libertarian ideas.  In the upcoming elections in September/October of 2025, Milei’s party leads the other parties, with an anticipated gain in seats.  Milei also dominates the youth vote 4 to 1 over the socialists. 

Nonetheless, Milei still hates the state.  Known as an anarcho-capitalist, Milei believes that a stateless society with property rights and free markets should govern all voluntary interactions while rejecting a centralized government.  With all his success, Americans should pay attention and follow his lead.