Argentina’s new libertarian president, Javier Milei, has wasted no time in surgically removing numerous bureaucratic waste.
Within hours of being inaugurated, Milei made good on his promise to “chainsaw” both government spending and his country’s “political caste,” signing an executive order reducing the number of government ministries from 18 to nine.
Argentina’s yearly inflation rate is 143%. Four out of every 10 Argentines are poor. According to the Associated Press, the country has a trade deficit of more than $43 billion and a $45 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This is what happens when socialists run a country for a long time. Eventually, they run out of other people’s money.
Milei, eager to halt the economic hemorrhaging, announced his so-called Chainsaw Plan in June 2022, outlining how he would sell off state-owned enterprises, lower and streamline taxes, cut government spending, and get rid of different government organizations perceived as increasing the country’s financial problems. He also urged Argentina to adopt the US dollar and close the doors of its central bank.
Milei related some of his strategy to the voters in a video before the election.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL“Ministry of Tourism and Sports… OUT!” he yelled, ripping a name tag from a whiteboard. “Ministry of Culture… OUT! Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development… OUT! Ministry of Women, Genders and Diversity… OUT! Ministry of Public Works… OUT, even if you resist!”
I bet if his administration can keep their deep state of socialists from screwing his agenda over, Argentina will become strong again.
Milei also ripped off the labels for the Ministries of Science, Technology, and Innovation, Labor, Employment, and Social Security, Education, Transportation, Health, and Social Development.
The video ended with the president-elect emphasizing, “The thievery of politics is over,” adding, “Long live liberty, damn it!” I love this guy.
Tradition demands that the newly elected president deliver his inauguration statement to a legislative assembly. Instead, Milei addressed supporters outside the National Congress building in Buenos Aires, emphasizing the importance of austerity and tough love.
“There’s no money,” the economist informed the audience.
A politician being honest with the people; even when the news is grim, you have to respect that.
“We don’t have margin for sterile discussions. Our country demands action and immediate action,” Milei said. “The political class left the country at the brink of its biggest crisis in history. We don’t desire the hard decisions that will need to be made in coming weeks, but lamentably, they didn’t leave us any option,” he added.
“In the last 12 years, GDP per capita fell 15% in a context in which we accumulated 5,000% inflation. As such, for more than a decade we have lived in stagflation. This is the last rough patch before starting the reconstruction of Argentina,” he noted.
“It won’t be easy; 100 years of failure aren’t undone in a day,” Milei remarked. “But it begins in a day, and today is that day.”
WATCH:
A century of failure may take some time to rectify, but Milei got a good start on Sunday. Milei issued the “Decree of Necessity and Urgency,” a presidential decree that abolished eight federal ministries.
According to DPA International, the Ministries of Social Development, Health, Labor, and Education will be merged into a new Ministry of Human Capital. The Ministry of Women, Gender Equality, and Diversity will be subordinated to this new ministry.
A special commission will investigate whether the directive is lawful, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. Following that, it will be presented to a vote in the Argentine Senate and Chamber of Deputies. To overturn the decree, both chambers must vote against it.
The Milei administration described the cut as a way “to rationalize the actions of the nation-state and make them more efficient.”
Below is President Milei’s pedigree. I got it from the World Economic Forum. Before you write the man off over that, just know that he was only a contributor, and it was before the WEF became a notorious Brave New World-type “you will own nothing and you will be happy” evil organization.
Licentiate in Economics, Universidad de Belgrano, Argentina; two Master’s in Economics, Universidad Torcuato Di Tella and CEDES/IDES. Former: Head Economist, Estudio Broda and Máxima AFJP; Senior Economist, HSBC, Argentina; Adviser of the Argentine Government, ICSID. Currently, Head Economist, Corporación América. B-20/G-20 Adviser and Member, Group of Economic Policy, ICC/G-20. Since 2012, leads the division of Economic Studies, Fundación Acordar, a think tank of national scope. For more than 20 years, University Professor of Macroeconomics, Economics of Growth, Microeconomics and Mathematics for Economists. Has written over 50 academic papers.
