Niccolo Soldo

Nov 27, 2023

Every weekend (almost) I share five articles/essays/reports with you. I select these over the course of the week because they are either insightful, informative, interesting, important, or a combination of the above.

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Around the turn of the previous century, Italians seeking a better life in the New World had to make an agonizing choice: should we emigrate to the USA or to Argentina?

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, both of these countries were very appealing to potential immigrants as both had room to settle and quite a lot of economic opportunity to exploit. One recent study from the University of Groningen (Netherlands) actually placed Argentina at the summit of GDP per capita for the year 1895. It remained one of the world’s wealthiest countries for decades:

This impressive growth rate allowed the country to rank among the 10 wealthiest nations on earth at the time, ahead of France, Italy and even Germany. At the time, Argentina had a per capita income that was 50 percent greater than Italy’s, and nearly twice that of Japan’s. According to The Economist: “Income per head was 92 percent of the average of 16 rich economies.” Furthermore, Argentinians were four times as wealthy as Brazilians.

That was then, and this is now.

Argentina has for some time now been the “economic sick man” of the Americas, never ascending the heights that it did during its golden age. Most of the blame is placed on Peronism, a collectivist and bureaucratic set of political, social, and economic policies that have ruled Argentina for decades now. Argentinians are forced to live through persistent stagnation and inflation rates that hit 150% per annum. Little wonder why I encounter more and more young Argentinians here in Croatia who have left their country to try and make a go of it on this side of the Adriatic Sea.

A sick man may be sick, but he is not dead and can still fight back.

Argentina’s fight back against economic decline has come in the form of maverick politician Javier Milel who surprised many by winning the recent presidential election run-off, beating his opponent by more than 10% in the overall voting. Milel, a former lower-league footy player and noted economist, is a larger-than-life character who stormed the Argentine political stage, taking no prisoners in his brash style.

This style has led many to label (or accuse) him of being a populist, or even a right-winger. Neither of these tags fit, as he is difficult to categorize outside of his staunch libertarian economic views. His stated mission is to turn Argentina around economically, and to “awaken lions, not gather sheep” i.e. change the collectivist mindset of the people of Argentina. A Chilean libertarian who is enthused by Milei’s upset victory gives us his perspective on the rock star of Argentine politics:

Apostolic zeal:

The fall of Chile’s free market deeply impacted Milei. During the recent presidential campaign, he often made the case that the only way to turn around Argentina was to create a new cultural hegemony capable of replacing socialism, Keynesianism and Peronism. Thus, unlike former president Mauricio Macri and most Argentinian technocrats, Milei came to believe that winning the battle of ideas on every possible level was the crucial issue—and so he left the private sector to become a public intellectual with the goal of changing Argentina’s prevailing collectivist narrative.

The apostolic zeal with which Milei defended freedom from the cast of “parasites” that have run Argentina into the ground, coupled with his aggressive and uncompromising style, transformed this previously unknown second-tier soccer player and economist into the leader of the most transformative grassroots revolution in Latin America’s modern history. Entering the public sphere six years ago and politics much more recently, he has completely changed the terms of political debate in Argentina, harnessing voters’ anger over triple-digit inflation and rising poverty and setting in motion a true libertarian revolution.

I am skeptical about Milei “setting in motion a true libertarian revolution”, but I cannot fault the writer for being so enthusiastic.

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