There wouldn’t be free markets without the state. So he either doesn’t actually want free markets and wants to run a mafia state like Putin, or he is a complete idiot.
Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
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Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#22What people don't talk about is that the good things the new administration achieved came with a big price: an expected drop of close to 4% in GDP. With the expectation of recovering it fast next year. So next year is the turning point for Milei, if the recession ends or intensifies. A shrinking economy with smaller inflation but in recession is worse than a growing economy with higher inflation.
Also the GDP drop should be bigger but the previous year there was the worst drought in the country's history and it relies heavily on agriculture so the economy was already in a terrible state with a paralyzed and incompetent president at the time. Now the agrobusiness is growing strong (compared to the terrible previous year) but not enough to balance against the recessive economic measures to reduce state spending.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
countries are not taking a page from Argentina. countries are taking a page from the United States electing someone like Donald Trump. https://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/05/the-roger-bannister... the Roger Bannister effect
Trump's priority in 2016 was not deregulation, in 2024 it is. Hmm.
This feels like an oversimplification of their priorities. Many right wing politicians are pro-deregulation. Trump also ran /did act on deregulation (or weakening) of certain agencies in his first term as well.
I think it’s moreso during hard economic times. Telling constituents youre going to “axe wasteful government spending” is a very viable strategy for winning elections.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
countries are not taking a page from Argentina. countries are taking a page from the United States electing someone like Donald Trump. https://www.scienceofrunning.com/2017/05/the-roger-bannister... the Roger Bannister effect
Trump's priority in 2016 was not deregulation, in 2024 it is. Hmm.
If Trump were taking notes from Milei, he wouldn't be looking to raise tariffs
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#25I wonder if Milei could choose a (country + year) as the ideal model (or closest to it) for how a state should be run, what would he choose?
Probably current singapore or 80s Hong Kong
The state holds a lot of power in Singapore, it's very authoritarian. Sounds quite at odds to Milei and his libertarian idology.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#26> "Argentina’s president is idolised by the Trumpian right. They should get to know him better" The subtext here seems to be that if the Trumpian right understood Milei, they would not idolize him. On the contrary, I believe that the Trumpian right understands Milei just fine: they're on board with his ideologies.
I agree with what you say, but it's funny that I can't tell if we have the same reasoning :)
Their supporters don't know or care much about economics but sure like a brash-sounding contrarian strongman leader who appeals to their insecurities. They don't mind a touch of the 'ascism since the leopard surly won't be coming for their sort of face.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#27[deleted]
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#28> "Argentina’s president is idolised by the Trumpian right. They should get to know him better" The subtext here seems to be that if the Trumpian right understood Milei, they would not idolize him. On the contrary, I believe that the Trumpian right understands Milei just fine: they're on board with his ideologies.
That's impossible to square. As the article points out, his drastic spending cuts and embrace of free trade are basically the radical opposite of where the US is going. Protectionism and industrial policy seem to now be consensus.
Milei is the closest thing the world has gotten to Milton Friedman style politics in the last few decades and the American right now looks more like what in Britain or Canada you'd call a Red Tory, i.e. paternalistic conservatism. People like Michael Lind who try to give this an intellectual underpinning are explicit critics of libertarianism.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#29The thing I see as worrying with Milei is that while he is an economist, and seems to be using economic principles to drive his thinking, he has also mixed in an unhealthy dose of culture war nonsense and other politics into his strategy. He claims almost all journalists in Argentina are corrupt and just write lies about him, which I find to be a suspicious claim. He also thinks that Trump is a wonderful and selfless…
I can understand someone who hates the state and wants to see it destroyed supporting Trump and Musk. They are obvious choices if you want to maximize the damage.
Re: Javier Milei: "My contempt for the state is infinite"
#30What people don't talk about is that the good things the new administration achieved came with a big price: an expected drop of close to 4% in GDP. With the expectation of recovering it fast next year. So next year is the turning point for Milei, if the recession ends or intensifies. A shrinking economy with smaller inflation but in recession is worse than a growing economy with higher inflation. Also the GDP drop sh…
The evil is in the details. The inflation rate pre-Milei distorted economy to the point where any meaningful model based on Austrian or Keynesian or whatever ideas was impossible.