This week, I visited Buenos Aires, Argentina, to speak about free markets and socialism at the Conservative Political Action Conference. It was a fitting location: Argentina is now Ground Zero for the revitalization of capitalism in the West. In a time when the right often laments “late stage capitalism” in terms reminiscent of Noam Chomsky, while the left laments the very existence of billionaires in the manner of Stalin targeting the kulaks, Argentina’s experiment in liberty represents an audacious foray into the world of economic dynamism and innovation.
Argentina has been, for decades, a basket case. In the early 20th century, thanks to a plethora of natural resources and a burgeoning Western constitutional structure, Argentina was one of the wealthiest countries on earth on a per capita basis. But from the 1940s on, Argentina began to pursue a policy of nationalist socialism: interior redistributionism and external protectionism, along with corrupt expropriation of property.
The result was decades of stagnation.
Dictator Juan Peron declared himself in favor of a “social market, putting capital to the service of the economy and the well-being of the people” — pretty words that should sound familiar to economic populists of the left and right, and that should scare the hell out of everyone, given that Peronism led to the complete economic meltdown of the country. In fact, between 1980 and 2023, Argentina was one of the few countries in the West that saw a relative decrease in living standard: The time it takes to work to buy basic goods actually increased during that period.
Finally, the Argentine people had enough. They elected as president Javier Milei, an audacious and magnetic Austrian school economist dedicated to free markets. “Viva la libertad, carajo!” he shouted while wielding a chainsaw — signifying proposed cuts to government spending — on the campaign trail. As Milei told the arrogant interventionists at Davos, “Economic freedom, limited government and unlimited respect for private property are essential elements for economic growth. The impoverishment produced by collectivism is not a fantasy, nor is it an inescapable fate. It’s a reality that we Argentines know very well.”
Milei has pursued his vision with alacrity.
And the results are nothing short of astonishing.
While shouting “afuera!” he has cut the number of ministries from 18 to eight, fired members of the bloated public sector en masse and dumped the corrupt intermediaries in the welfare system. He has slashed the budget by 32%, brought a fiscal surplus for the first time in years, and brought inflation down from a month-on-month rate of 25% to 2%. The stock market has skyrocketed; investors are once again looking at Argentina as a target for their money.
That’s because Javier Milei understands the power of liberty.
Now the rest of the West must follow.
For too long, the West has followed the fallacy-ridden economic philosophy of John Maynard Keynes, who preached government interventionism and redistributionism as a corrective to the animal forces of free markets. And the result has been stagnation, unsustainable debt and, finally, radical inflation.
Javier Milei shows it doesn’t have to be this way.
So do Argentines. Perhaps the most astonishing element of Milei’s presidency is his continuing popularity. Tough economic measures often deliver short-term pain in favor of long-term health; that’s what makes them so difficult to sustain in a democracy. But Argentines are clearly willing to take their medicine in order to ensure the possibility of a brighter future.
Now it’s time for the rest of the West to follow suit.
Ben Shapiro’s new collection, “Facts and Furious: The Facts About America and Why They Make Leftists Furious,” is available now. Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author. To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website.
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Positive change, to correct the corruption and degradation induced by the Left’s sustained control of most or all major aspects of the central government after long sustained periods of time, is indeed a very messy process. Yet it is an absolutely essential process that must be undertaken, if the People intend to wrest control from those that have destroyed so much of the foundation of their government in the name of so-called social or economic justice wrapped in the bankrupt ideology of socialism or pure Marxism.
Yes, Javier Milei has demonstrated to not only his fellow Argentine citizens but also other world leaders, that if they have the courage to stay the course, that freedom and prosperity can be restored, even if it means it will take some time. Argentina was turned into the basket case of South America overnight. It took Peron and his subsequent followers’ years to systematically destroy what was once one of the most prosperous countries on the South American continent through socialistic policies. So obviously, undoing the decades of damage isn’t like simply flicking a switch. None the less, Milei is off to a good start and hopefully the people of his country will continue to back him through the long road ahead.
As for other world leaders learning something from what is going on in Argentina, the biggest obstruction to many of them following the same path is sadly themselves. Some world leaders like what has become of their countries. Some were even instrumental in creating the mess that has become their own governments. These leaders usually support a globalist or Marxist world view, where the central government generally rules over the people stead of serving the people. As such, government can never be too big or too powerful, because in that ideological world view government has to control everything. To such leaders, they are hoping Milei will fail so the pressure from their own people will be off them to do any real reforms.
Other world leaders look at the actions of Milei as a roadmap of how to reform their own bloated and unsustainable government bureaucracies. Something they can point to in order to gain support for the type of changes that need to be implemented. So, it basically comes down to what kind of leader each country has as to whether the support or hate what is going on in Argentina today.
In our own country, we’ve just gone through another 4 years of “government can never be too big or powerful and it MUST control all aspects of your lives or else via so-called “progressive” (socialist or Marxist) policies”. No need to ask anyone here how that worked out, as the Democrats still can’t quite accept that the People didn’t crave more of their destructive ideology. We too have to be up for the long-term struggle that will start over again on January 20th, when Trump gets back into the White and begins undoing the considerable damage of the last 4 years.
Socialism turns people into pets standing by their food bowls waiting for their masters to dump in whatever is today’s meal. The thing is, lots of people opt to be pets rather than fend for themselves. This may be a rare moment in history where the paradigm shifts.
Really good news even for us in the USA as our nation is about to go through similar change starting Jan 20th. Pray for DJT’s safety and God’s guidance to him as he begins the upheaval of our overgrown and over-ruling federal gov’t.
Milei/Trump Rev 1
Two thumbs up for Javier Milei ,there should be at least two more, in Venezuela and Brazil, that would turn the whole S. America around. Rich continent as that in such wretchedness Socialism at work.
This is basically what Trump has in mind for the U.S. which is why the left is so desperate to stop him.
When one actually spends time traveling, working, and living daily life, it shouldn’t take long to feel the economic STRANGULATION that Socialism brings. Yes, Capitalism isn’t perfect, but just the FREEDOM alone makes life bearable. Work hard, be responsible and life will reward you. This economic turn around isn’t EASY, lest we forget, those that promoted their Socialist BS, became “somehow” themselves WEALTHY! hmmm, do as I say, not as [ do. Go Argentina.!!!Gennaro Pupa
I have been watching some of this going on and am thrilled to see their come back! This is something that I would like to see spread like wildfire! It looks like we are trying to spread the flames here! Amen?