Michael Chapman
Michael Chapman
During a conference in Buenos Aries sponsored by the Cato Institute and Libertad y Progreso, Argentine President Javier Milei explained why socialism always fails, why big government (the “State”) is criminal, why Argentina is now on the side of the private sector and those who innovate, and why he is a libertarian who believes in freedom.
“My friends, I’m a liberal libertarian” and “I believe in freedom,” said Milei in explaining his rejection of the “socialist and controlling policies” of the politicians who ran Argentina’s economy into the ground over the last 100 years. “I’m not going to do” what they did, he added. “I don’t believe that politicians are gods.”
Milei gave his speech on June 12, following a live interview on X between entrepreneur Elon Musk and Cato Senior Fellow Johan Norberg at the event. The two-day conference (June 11–12), attended by up to 1,000 people, was entitled “The Rebirth of Liberty in Argentina and Beyond.”
Milei, the most outspoken and orthodox libertarian elected to the presidency of a major country, took office in December 2023. Although his critics and much of the mainstream media have tried to characterize him as an impractical zealot—El Loco, the madman—so far Milei has implemented a good portion of his agenda. In turn, Argentina’s economy and quality of life are slowly improving.
For instance, since taking office, Milei has slashed government spending up to 30%, fired more than 25,000 federal workers, reduced federal agencies, frozen public works projects, lowered a major import tariff, maintained budget surpluses every month, reduced monthly inflation to 4.2% (August 2024) from 25% (December 2023), and is pushing for currency competition among the peso, US dollar, and other currencies.
It is not all roses, however, as he explained in his speech because his administration is fighting against 100 years of government intervention. » Read More
https://www.cato.org/blog/javier-milei-cato-conference-im-liberal-libertarian-i-dont-believe-politicians-are-gods