Milei: Exciting times in Argentina and the world
By J.K. Baltzersen
web posted November 27, 2023
It's amazing, and I'm not sure I ever will get over it. An economist, one well into the Austrian school, and a man who wants to cut government down to size and tackle the fiat money system haunting the world has won the Argentine Presidential election.
Do not, however, be tempted into believing that the social science laws and vices of democracy have been repealed. They have not.
President-elect Javier Milei, who won election earlier this month, is scheduled to be inaugurated in two weeks. It is a great victory, but he has one serious hurdle race ahead. A lot of the people who voted for him probably do not have a very deep understanding of Milei's philosophy or Austrian economics, but they understand that Argentina is in deep trouble, and that Milei is an alternative to the establishment responsible for the country's crisis.
Milei has been labeled the "Trump of Argentina." The way he talks of political opponents has some clear similarities with Trump. Trump is a political outsider. So is Milei. Trump attacks the political establishment with fierce rhetoric. So does Milei. But saying he is the "Trump of Argentina" ignores how well schooled Milei is in the Austrian school, and not least differences in policy. Milei is a former university professor of economics.
Trump wanted during his presidency the Fed to lower interest rates even more than they did. Milei wants government entirely out of managing the monetary system.
Ron Paul's style was gentlemanly. It didn't win him the Republican nomination. Then Trump came along with his language. It won him the nomination and then the Presidency. If Milei had a gentlemanly style, he might have lost the election. If you are mad at the government, you will likely be more attracted to a candidate who is also mad at the government than to a gentleman.
Milei says there is no time for doing things gradually. If you have a system where people have grown dependent on big government and social security, such as in my own native Norway, the best solution is probably to switch away from that system gradually, in order not to be unreasonable towards those who planned their lives based on the existing system of big government and social security. However, it does have its drawbacks, as electorates tend to give one team a limited amount of time to implement change before swapping to another team. Also, doing things gradually is a luxury one cannot afford if things have really gone bad.
On the other hand, when Milei says he will replace the peso with the U.S. dollar, this is a sign that he knows that when you have to do things quickly, you do something that is well-tested. Other countries have been dollarized before. The first step when hyperinflation is reigning, is not to experiment with transitions to private money. This is a sign that he is a realist.
Just days after the election of Milei, Argentina voted in the UN to start a process leading up to a convention on taxation. It would have been interesting to see what Argentina would have voted were that vote held three weeks later. And it will be interesting to see if Argentina changes its stand on this issue.
Skeptics say the election of Milei makes things worse, because all the obstacles will give statists hard evidence of all the problems that turning the direction of ever-growing government and a government-managed monetary system into one of less government control. Yes, there will be hurdles. There will be disadvantages, especially in the short term. That's why so many politicians kick the can down the road and won't do what's really needed.
But we cannot stand down and not fight. Turning government's natural tendency to grow into a downsized government system will never be an easy ride.
When inaugurated, Milei will face opposition in Congress. His party has 35 out of 257 seats in the Chamber of Deputies. In the Senate, it's 7 out of 72. There are other obstacles as well. Those who work in government will probably not appreciate being downsized. Elites who enjoy the current system will oppose the implementation of his policies.
A hurdle marathon is ahead. Milei will probably not attempt to implement everything in his program. Of what he tries to implement, not everything will go through or succeed. There are also the risks of what holding power does to Milei.
But the most important thing is the impact of the election on public discourse. Now the ideas of liberty, cutting government down to size, and opposition to the ruling fiat money system cannot be ignored – or at least much less so. Javier Milei will probably be a more well-known Austrian economist than Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich August von Hayek, Carl Menger, Murray Rothbard, or Ron Paul – although most people who know of him will not know he is an Austrian economist, or even what being an Austrian economist actually means.
If Milei survives to inauguration and through his presidency, this will potentially be one of the most important political changes arguably since World War Two – if not the most important.
There are hurdles and risks ahead. It will be exciting and interesting times. 
J.K. Baltzersen is a Norwegian political commentator and writer. His work has appeared, among other places, in The Washington Times, FEE.org, and Enter Stage Right.
