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Argentina elects 'shock therapy' libertarian Javier Milei as president
- boeingUH60 3y agoThis guy will either set Argentina on the right path towards a stable, successful economy or wreck what’s left of it with his policies…seems it’s a bet voters were willing to make, unsurprising after years of mismanagement, corruption, and tomfoolery by the political class.
- notfromhere 3y agoIt's a wrecking ball. These far right politicians always start and end the same way.
- s1gnp0st 3y agoYou're kidding, surely. Argentina was long ago wrecked by Peronism. What exactly is left to wreck? I hope he succeeds where others failed.
- notfromhere 3y agoHave you looked into his policies at all?
- s1gnp0st 3y agoBurn the state to the ground and salt the earth where it stood.
- jowea 3y ago> What exactly is left to wreck? Wikipedia says Argentina is currently 47th on the HDI scale and 66th on the GDP (PPP) Per Capita. Failed currency or not it can get a lot worse. Not saying it will or will not, just that objectively Argentina isn't that bad even with the semi-permanent crisis.
- jerojero 3y agoDespite inflation I would say Argentinians still have a relatively high quality of living compared to most other countries in the region. The reason for this is that the state is still capable of providing decent services to people. Argentinians have decent schools and universities (compared to other countries in the region), the capital has a decent transportation system, they have free healthcare, etc. All of these things are keeping a country that's falling apart still somewhat together and Milei has openly said he's going to do away with all of these. How is that going to improve the situation in Argentina? I'm not sure slashing public education and healthcare is good for the country. People are extremely poor, what are they going to do when they can no longer afford medical care, just die? Argentina definitely needs to become more fiscally responsible, but if anything, this shouldn't mean getting rid of their free healthcare and education; that's a difficult equation to put together for sure. But that's why they need responsible leaders capable of truly discerning what matters from what doesn't. I believe Milei is just going to plunge Argentina further into chaos.
- slibhb 3y ago> How is that going to improve the situation in Argentina? I'm not sure slashing public education and healthcare is good for the country. People are extremely poor, what are they going to do when they can no longer afford medical care, just die? It's not clear that Argentina can afford the kind of social services you're talking about. Liberalization will be painful but then things will get better. If all goes well, perhaps in the future we'll be able to compare this transition to Chile under Pinochet, minus a bloody coup and associated political repression. Or maybe Milei will drop the ball.
- surgical_fire 3y ago> Liberalization will be painful but then things will get better. Has this ever worked anywhere to take an empoverished country out of their miserable situation? Also, this completely ignores the context of the region. South American history is littered with examples of politicians that promised easy solutions to deep, complex issues.
- elforce002 3y agoI'm not Argentinian but are you following Argentina's economy? 140% inflation with +40% poverty, etc.. will make any voter vote for him.
- notfromhere 3y agoSlicing the state to zero and instating hard right social policies is not going to fix anything. Argentina needs a steady hand at the wheel, not this nut job.
- megaman821 3y agoSlicing the state to zero would definitely decrease inflation, but at tremendous cost to citizen wellbeing. It is not like print so much money that groceries cost more in the evening than they did in the morning is working out well for the people either.
- zx8080 3y ago> Slicing the state to zero would definitely decrease inflation Slicing the state to zero as part of the shock therapy economics did not stop inflation nor it helped recesdion in Eastern European ex-Soviet countries in 1990s.
- Mystery-Machine 3y agoWho said slicing the state to zero? Why do you have to go to the extremes? Yes, Milei said he'll cut down on the number of ministries (currently 18) to 8. So how is that zero?
- mikrotikker 3y agoHow is he far right, everything I've seen calls him libertarian.
- Mystery-Machine 3y agoWhen you swear on national TV and insult people, you're immediately a far right fascist. Very easy to become far right fascist these days with people who have no clue what the difference is between being far right and being libertarian.
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- blacksqr 3y agoIt's always funny when the people of a democratic country get into trouble by electing bad people, then suddenly decide to fix everything by electing the very worst person they can find. That ought to do the trick!
- notfromhere 3y agoPeople knock intellectuals because they don't give straight answers and say things are complicated. So they elect the first idiot that offers them an easy, feel-good solution to problems despite how dubious those solutions are. I guess if your population gets cynical and apathetic enough, democracy becomes a means of entertainment rather than governance.
- 79a6ed87 3y agoCuriously, one of the things many people criticize about Milei is that he explains the situation of the economy and its solutions in a way that many people don't understand because he's too technical about it
- Izikiel43 3y ago[flagged]
- yazantapuz 3y ago> feel-good solution But Milei do not offer such solutions. And if you watch the political debates and his proposal hi uses a lot of technical terms.
- Mystery-Machine 3y agoMaybe read a little bit more before commenting? Milei is, yes on one side a lunatic, but on the other side he definitely is talking complicated things and offering solutions that are usually difficult to comprehend for the average Joe.
- Izikiel43 3y ago> then suddenly decide to fix everything by electing the very worst person they can find. But Massa lost?
- dizzydes 3y agoSo happy for him. If they're using the dollar massively on the black market, why not tether? Having said that, he has so little support in parliament its hard to tell what he'll get through.
- jowea 3y agoSometimes I wonder about why some populist candidates seem to have so much more trouble electing people to parliament than themselves to the presidency.
- jerojero 3y agoBecause these are candidates that rely on themselves as individuals instead of collective projects.
- jowea 3y agoSure but even then, what goes in the head of someone voting for the "take a wrecking ball to the establishment" candidate and then votes for a traditional party candidate for parliament? Why can't those populists point out they will need the legislative to actually do much?
- jerojero 3y agoThere was an interview going around online: They are talking to a woman that's about to go into a public bus, she says "I can't live without the transportation subsidy, I would literally not be able to afford the commute and I need to commute to go to work. It's essential to me" so the interviewer asks her who she's voting for then she says "Milei. I'm voting Milei". Funny thing is, one of the promises of Milei was precisely to take away the transportation subsidy. And it's not something that people weren't aware of. Of course, everyone knew. What goes on in the head of someone that clearly relies on a government program and has decided to vote for a politician that will take that away? I think, obviously, asking what goes on in the head of voters is a silly question. You're presupposing that voters are rational and logical, and they're not. Representative elections are all about feelings, not thoughts. People are voting for the outsider candidate because they're sick of the same politicians doing the same things that always lead to nothing. But hey, turns out voting for the outside candidate is not going to make things better at all, in fact, it's just gonna make things worse and when this happens the opposite side will come back with their "we told you" message. Just for the cycle to repeat again. So, I think you have the wrong framing. People are literally not thinking. But obviously our political system only works if people "think". It's a systemic failure, voting for representatives this way just doesn't work. It doesn't work in Argentina, it doesn't work in France, it doesn't work in the US. Our representative democracies are collapsing, and it's not going to get better.
- young_unixer 3y ago[flagged]
- throwaway4good 3y agoMilei is pledging economic shock therapy. His plans include shutting the central bank, ditching the peso, and slashing spending, potentially painful reforms that resonated with voters angry at the economic malaise. Sounds fun and unrealistic - for sure to lead to more of the same.
- miketery 3y ago> for sure to lead to more of the same How is trying something else sure to lead to the same? Possible it works out, no? Even if small chance. You never know, there's some individuals if empowered can do good things. Let's hope someone in his circle is capable of doing good and is empowered to do so.
- jahnu 3y agoYou have a bad headache. Try trepanning! You never know!
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- Barrin92 3y ago>How is trying something else sure to lead to the same? Because that's kind of how Latin America has worked for decades. Pivot from shock therapy Chigago school free marketeer to the other end of the spectrum and back again, usually because leaders are either eccentric, strongmen or plain crazy and radical reforms start to cause social upheaval. What would be an actual change would be just putting a competent, moderate administrator in charge.
- wahnfrieden 3y agoHe is written about as a libertarian, but my understanding is he is more of a "minarchist": attracted to the ideas of libertarianism, but without the solidarity aspect of anarchism and with hierarchies (making the term a misnomer as well, similar to the absurdly self-contradictory term "anarcho capitalist") and pro-capital, which he realizes requires some state government and policing to enable (capital is nothing without the state there to protect its hierarchy through coercion by threat of violence/caging that it maintains a monopoly over). Doesn't sound very "libertarian" to me. Also not sure how to square his positions such as anti-abortion with his reputation for libertarianism. So what are his politics
- jltsiren 3y agoHe is the leader of a political party that calls itself the Libertarian Party, so calling him libertarian sounds fair. Political labels often don't match the original meaning of the terms. Most liberals are not liberal, most libertarians are not libertarian, and most communists are not communist.
- wahnfrieden 3y agoNo one here is uttering his party's official name when describing his policies as anti-authoritarian, "ancap", pro-freedom, leftist, etc. I hope we can have discussion beyond the vocabulary of populist sloganeering
- jltsiren 3y agoI'm not sure what you are trying to say. As a European, I see libertarianism as a right-wing ideology with a particular focus on property rights. Because that's what the vast majority of self-described libertarians I've met care about. I've never heard of Javier Milei before, but based on some quick reading, he seems to fit in this group well. Then there is a centrist position called liberal, such as the Liberal Democrats in the UK. Their heritage is in social liberalism and ultimately in classical liberalism. And when you go to the anti-authoritarian pro-freedom left, you tend to see ideological opposition to strong property rights. Those people usually see wealth as inherently authoritarian.
- zemariagp 3y ago[flagged]
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- SeanAnderson 3y agoanti-vax, climate change denial, anti-abortion even for rape, wants to abolish the central bank of Argentina. fun times. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei
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- AequitasOmnibus 3y agoPeople are scared of change. Particularly where those changes require mass acceptance of uncomfortable truths. Intellectually it’s obvious that society has to come to a reckoning over our current way of life if we’re going to get a handle on existential threats like climate change and endemic disease. Emotionally it’s appealing to hear someone say that those hard truths don’t actually exist, and even if they do exist they don’t matter. Societies are reactionary by nature. Until avoidance hurts more than denial we’ll opt for the latter every time. Argentina is by no means the first place where voters picked the guy peddling emotional comfort over the other candidates. The US may very well head in the same navel-gazing direction soon.
- SeanAnderson 3y agoOh yeah, I agree completely with everything you're saying. There but for the grace of God go I and all that. I really hope this works out well for Argentina. Everyone deserves to live in a healthy and thriving society. I'd just have more confidence if the candidate's scientific views aligned with mine, but that's implicit. :)
- blacksqr 3y ago> The US may very well head in the same navel-gazing direction soon. The US train pulled into that station right around 2016.
- Izikiel43 3y ago> Argentina is by no means the first place where voters picked the guy peddling emotional comfort over the other candidates. Have you seen the other candidate? Milei was the objective better of the 2, the other guy had been the de facto president over the past 18 months, inflation rose to 140%, poverty is over 40%, child poverty is over 60%. It’s not emotional comfort, it’s a rational decision.
- Dalewyn 3y ago[flagged]
- megabless123 3y agohow do you feel about his climate change denial views?
- bsaul 3y agoArgentina’s role in climate change probably means whatever he’ll do will have close to 0 impact
- Dalewyn 3y ago[flagged]
- notfromhere 3y agoHuman-driven climate change is a scientific consensus at this point. Denying it is like arguing the world is flat.
- megabless123 3y ago"Earth's climate has changed dramatically over the course of its existence, with and without humanity, so I don't mind his views on the matter." This does not follow, logically. Earth's climate changing without humanity is not part of the equation here.
- Dalewyn 3y ago[flagged]
- monero-xmr 3y agoLeft vs. right is the wrong way to view the world. It should freedom vs. authoritarianism. Argentinians had socialism for so long they actually elected a self-described anarcho capitalist! Incredible
- wahnfrieden 3y ago[flagged]
- monero-xmr 3y agoIn broad strokes the libertarian split on abortion comes down to the right of the unborn child vs. the right of the mother. A very rich vein of debate.
- WalterBright 3y agoLibertarian philosophy offers no guidance on the abortion issue, so you'll see libertarians split on it.
- omnimus 3y agoSidenote anarcho-capitalism is not related to anarchism. If anything its on the most opossite spectrum. Where anarchism general goal is dissolving hiearchies/power/authority. Anarcho-capitalism goal is creating pure unrestricted capitalism system with single master hiearchy/power/authority - money. If he is truly anarcho-capitalist he should be ok with people having abortions. As long they can pay for it.
- School-Cotton 3y ago> Anti-abortion law requires there be a state that cages people for violating it. Doesn’t any criminal law require this? How is abortion special?
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- mrtksn 3y agoThis is going to be a fascinating experiment to watch. I wouldn't wish to be an Argentinian now, because even if turns out to be amazing this is going to leave a lot of people out. Anyone who had it good due to idealogical reasons will see drastic reduction in life quality and prospects. I have been through two big transformations(communism->capitalism in the 90s, secular totalitarianism->islamist totalitarianism in the 2000s), I have no doubt that many people will not be able to function in the new system. The young may see better outcomes if the new governance succeedes overall. Good luck. Never been to Argentina, but I always heard that they are poor but the life is good for all non-monetary stuff that matters. I hope they don't loose that.
- selimthegrim 3y agoWhich unfortunate country experienced both of those transformations? Afghanistan? South Yemen?
- mrtksn 3y agoNot the same country, but Bulgaria in the 90s and Turkey in the 2000s. I suspect that my parents are crisis chasers. :) It's fun to notice similarities from the past. Did you know that when your economy collapses, the quality of ketchup nosedives and you end up with ketchup having strange color and wrong texture? But there are of course so many differences too, the first 10 years of Turkey's transformation were mostly for the better. The later 10 so far are 90's Bulgaria level.
- mariojv 3y agoThat's an interesting fact about the ketchup. What other everyday similarities like that did you notice?
- mrtksn 3y agoPublic buses begin to break down, you start to see some clunkers brought back to service. Shopping malls get less maintenance, supermarkets start turning off the air conditioning. You start seeing some new products with clear packaging, almost as if they were packaged in a small room with no access to industrial packaging. Generally that kind of stuff, not very surprising. The ketchup was surprising, wasn’t expecting to see an item from my childhood. Turkey has some strong advantages over Bulgaria(there’s no change in the how economy works, it was just mismanaged), so it’s not that bad in the terms of impact on daily life but it’s still interesting to recognize patterns. The most unfortunate one is the rise of organized crime. Bulgaria was a center of international crime rings throughout the 90’s. Turkey is currently in the same spot. There were many murders of mob bosses, just like in 90’s Bulgaria the organized crime leaders kill each other. The impact of the organized crimes on daily life is that some sectors are taken over by gangs and some people who used to be nobodies become very rich and they show it. In response to that, the youngsters lose fate in education and they try to pursue similar path to become rich. In the recent few months the new interior minister is conducting police raids on gangs, so maybe things can change.
- jmfldn 3y agoOut of the frying pan and into the fire. I understand Argentinians are utterly fed up and willing to roll the dice. This will be even worse... Sad times.
- s1gnp0st 3y agoIf it's better for them, how will that change your perspective if at all?
- jmfldn 3y agoSure it will yep. I'm pretty confident it won't be though. I am half-Argentine and a student of history. Both things tell me it will be a disaster. For what it's worth, I'm utterly opposed to the corrupt useless Peronists. Their centre right rivals are pretty awful too. Argentina was lead to the abyss by decades of political failure and corruption. Now, in desperation, they've rolled the dice and summoned a catastrophe.
- elforce002 3y agoBy the looks of it, Argentinians didn't want to continue with the current system nor wanted the status quo offered by other parties. The elected president will either rock or bust.
- Izikiel43 3y ago[flagged]
- dang 3y agoCould you please stop posting unsubstantive comments and flamebait? You've unfortunately been doing it a lot, and it's not what this site is for, and destroys what it is for. If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and taking the intended spirit of the site more to heart, we'd be grateful.
- throwaway892238 3y agoJohn Oliver covered Milei recently. Basically he's fucking nuts. https://vimeo.com/884219371 https://vimeo.com/884219371 https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-takes-down-worlds-weirdest-wannabe-president-javier-milei https://www.thedailybeast.com/john-oliver-takes-down-worlds-... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Political_image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Political_image https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Criticisms_and_controversies https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Criticisms_and_co...
- whatwhaaaaat 3y ago[flagged]
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- 1letterunixname 3y agoYes, John Oliver is 100% pūteketeke nuts. Oh you mean the Idiocracy candidate? Well, he's probably a safer bet than the doddards and agro embarrassments the US has in office and to choose from at present. I vote New Zealand conquers North America and replaces quite a few not-so-great US elected officials with saner adult supervision by kiwis who aren't prone to fisticuffs, felonies, or hiding gold bars in clothing. The results of populist elections makes you consider sortition. And Socrates would be the first to vote for it.
- joenot443 3y ago> Milei rejected the use of the far-right label to describe his views, and said: "I'm a liberal and libertarian, these positions are things of the left, because for the left, everything that is not on their side is on the right." Regardless of how one feels about Milei, I think this is a pretty understandable perspective.
- cartucho1 3y agoHis vicepresident has strong ties to the military (specifically to the sectors that made the last coup in the 70s). He has publicly opposed abortion rights, same-sex marriage, feminism in general, publicly denies climate change, is against gun control, and a large etc... He is not only economically but also socially on the far right of the polítical spectrum here.
- germandiago 3y agoNo. What you say is a caricature of him. I listened to him directly. In spanish. I am spanish. He never opposed to same sex marriage or denied climate change. What he said is that people treat climate change as religion without any other considerations. A libertarian is not far right. You could consider it right, but far right is just absurd. A libertarian cannot be anti-liberal in essence. Milei never defended positions of force against others and promotes respect for life, private life (he does not care who you go to the bed with or who you trade with) and private property. Anyone who knows ehat far right is knows perfectly this is not a far right position at all.
- pas 3y agoI hope you are right, but it's a bit silly to try to claim that there's a caricature and there's a perfectly cromulent man behind it, when his whole political persona is the former. https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1692224414593478923 https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1692224414593478923 (the "why do you call leftists shit?" interview)
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- omnimus 3y agoIn what sense would Thatcher helped them?
- jerojero 3y agoThe bad policies we implement today will not really be seen until years down the line. Where is the UK heading? And how much of that is a consequence of Thatcher's policies. What Argentina needs is responsible leaders, not really an austerity freak. They need to realign their economy and become more fiscally irresponsible without sacrificing everyone to the "Economy" like Aztecs would to the Sun god. And, in any case, anyone that's familiar with Argentinian policies knows Milei is no Thatcher at all. He is a lunatic. He is crazy and his policies do reflect it. This libertarian wet dream is not the responsible fiscal needs that Argentina needs, and I'm sure we're going to be seeing that soon enough.
- slibhb 3y agoIt's unclear to me what economic advice you're offering other than "we can have our cake and eat it". Fixing what's wrong with Argentina is going to hurt and there's no way around it. A responsibly run country wouldn't have gotten to this point but even in the US, the fed makes decisions that make people's lives harder in the short term to make them better in the long term.
- Izikiel43 3y ago> not really an austerity freak. They need to realign their economy and become more fiscally irresponsible That’s been the MO for the last 20 years, it hasn’t worked out
- jowea 3y agoI know you meant Thatcher's economics but it's ironic to bring it up about an Argentinian president hah.
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- diego_sandoval 3y agoAs a Chilean, I'm happy for our neighbors, but also somewhat cautious. Leftist ideas have brought nothing more than misery to the Argentinian people. Milei's ideas are much better on paper, but I don't know if he will select the right people to help him develop these ideas in a fruitful way, and I hope he has the character to withstand the political pressures that will come and still act like a president. Keep in mind that the other guy is the current minister of economics, and Argentina has an anual inflation of 140%. Milei was clearly the better option between the two.
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- 1letterunixname 3y agoSome politicians starts wars to distract from domestic troubles. Hopefully, this one doesn't understand how government works and the people around the bastions of functional government limit the damage of incompetency.
- raziel2701 3y agoJavier Milei is: - Against abortion (except when mother's life is in danger) - Against sex-ed and wants to eliminate it (says it deforms people's minds) - Denies climate change (says it's an invention of socialism) - Anti-vax (But got vaxxed in Nov 2021 because otherwise he would not be able to work in other countries) - Wants to fuse the departments of Social Development, Health and Education into a single department of Human Capital. - In favor of Austrian school of economics - Wants to remove the central bank - Adopt the US dollar - Homosexuality is a personal choice and compares it to zoophilia - In favor of drug legalization and to opening up immigration as long as it doesn't cost the State. - In favor of people paying for sex - In favor of gun ownership without governmental limitations - Wants to freeze relationships with China, Russia, Brazil because they're communists. - Wants to align with the US, particularly Trump's party. - Against the Pope because he represents evil on Earth, and because it promotes communism which goes against the holy scriptures. - In favor of animal cloning - In favor of organ selling Good luck Argentina
- germandiago 3y ago> Homosexuality is a personal choice and compares it to zoophilia Where can I find a literal quote where he said that? > In favor of gun ownership without governmental limitations Not really. What he proposes is inside the law of Argentina. Read it carefully and understand he does not propose something the law does not allow. Just to put in oractice what is granted already in the law itself. > Wants to freeze relationships with China, Russia, Brazil because they're communists Not really. He wants from an institutional point of view but he made very clear citizens are free to do that and he has no problem with it. Which is not the same as forbiding trade and business with them. Careful bc it is not the same at all.
- raziel2701 3y agohttps://www.diarioconvos.com/2023/11/08/milei-comparo-la-homosexualidad-con-la-zoofilia-y-se-manifesto-a-favor-del-matrimonio-entre-mas-de-dos-personas/ https://www.diarioconvos.com/2023/11/08/milei-comparo-la-hom... > "Si fuera por vos, suponete que querés estar con un elefante. Bueno, si tenés consentimiento del elefante es problema tuyo y del elefante", resumió Milei y, cuando el periodista le preguntó si tenía amigos gay, remarcó: "Yo no los califico en esos términos". "If it were up to you, suppose you'd like to be in a relationship with an elephant. Well, if you had the elephant's consent then the matter is between you and the elephant's."
- upupupandaway 3y agoWhat's incredible is not Milei winning, but how the government party thought it was a good idea that the Minister of Economy who's running the country on 140% inflation and a 40% poverty level would be a great candidate for the presidency. "Vote for me! I will do the same things that got us here!"
- wslh 3y agoWell, Massa is 44%. In the Argentinian current culture there were different values that people think about. For example, the corruption of the current government is incredible yet for some people it does not matter.
- anonporridge 3y agoWhat's really incredible is Milei's big objection was extreme fiscal irresponsibility, so the incumbent decided to try to bride the country by handing out extra pension money and a temporary tax cut right before the election.
- Izikiel43 3y agoHe just resigned, he didn’t give a fuck about the people
- H8crilA 3y agoIt world for the past few decades (just do the same). In some provinces of Argentina more than 50% of people are on govt payroll, so yeah they want to keep their jobs.
- porsager 3y agoArgentina will now lead the world by example! Congratulations!
- tim333 3y agoFingers crossed! I hope the new leader gets someone smart at finance to sort things.
- diego_moita 3y agoIt is a 3rd world pattern: countries with weak and ineffective institutions turn politics into a personality cult where authoritarian charismatic saviours with lunatic ideas are preferred to sensible and pragmatic policies. You know these types: Jair Bolsonaro, Sivio Berlusconi, V. Orbán, R. Duterte, Hugo Chávez, Nayib Bukele, Daniel Ortega, Narendra Modi and ... yeah, the most famous one. I don't need to mention him. Funny thing is that Argentina already experienced some of Milei's ideas before, under Menem, with disastrous results.
- wslh 3y agoTrump is a populist in a first world country so charismatic saviours exist beyond the third world. Italy is also a first world country by definition.
- diego_moita 3y ago> Trump is a populist You see? I didn't need to mention him. As I wrote he is the most obvious one. :-) But the truth is that the US doesn't have an history of populist demagogues as rich as 3rd world countries. There is Trump and nothing as him before. Italy might be a first world country. But it's political institutions are very dysfunctional.
- lossolo 3y ago> But the truth is that the US doesn't have an history of populist demagogues as rich as 3rd world countries. There is Trump and nothing as him before. The US had a good economy for many decades, while 3rd world countries did not. This led to more desperation in those countries. In the last 1-2 decades, jobs have been shipped from the US to other countries due to globalization, leaving some people feeling left behind. The US now has the highest inequality since 100 years[1]. While not being part of that group, I understand the concerns of those who voted the way they did, as desperation is a strong motivator. 1. https://media.newyorker.com/photos/590951552179605b11ad2f98/master/pass/chart-01.jpg https://media.newyorker.com/photos/590951552179605b11ad2f98/...
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- arb-spreads 3y agoThis has the potential to be extremely transformative for Argentina. The country struggled for decades with rampant inflation and incompetent leadership. Dollarizing the economy will offer the potential for Argentina to return to growth and offer a quality standard of living to tens of millions of Argentineans. For reference - I was in Argentina earlier this year. The exchange rate was 400:1, relative to the dollar. Now each dollar is worth ~1000 pesos, after only a few months. A 30+ minute Uber was the equivalent of under 3 dollars.
- anonporridge 3y agoFYI, it's the black market exchange rate that's over 1000 pesos per dollar. The official, government rate is 350 pesos per dollar. Just another way the government tries to make believe away the reality that the market discovers.
- TacticalCoder 3y ago> ... and incompetent leadership That is a very polite formulation for "corrupt politicians".
- _chompsky 3y agoJavier Milei has close to 0 representation in any level of government apart from the executive: can you please explain how he is going to get literally anything done, let alone “offer a quality standard of living to tens of millions of Argentineans” ?
- monero-xmr 3y agoUse the bully pulpit and massive propaganda resources of the government to hammer his opposition. Use the levers of executive power to find ways to implement his agenda without the legislator, just as Biden does in the US with split congress. And finally caucus with the conservative parties who openly backed him.
- Pxtl 3y ago> bully pulpit That's the one thing that gives me hope in this. His mandate is about the economy. Not social issues. He may rant about sex ed and libtards and all that, but everybody knows he was elected to fix hyperinflation. He and the more centrist parts of the government may be able compromise and come up with solutions for that. > the levers of executive power This is what I worry about. I don't know much about division of powers in AR, but anything he can do unilaterally will likely be batcrap like sabre-rattling at "communist" trading partners.
- wooque 3y agoArgentina elected mentally ill schizo to lead their country, I don't think that will turn out to be good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Dogs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Milei#Dogs
- Izikiel43 3y ago[flagged]
- duxup 3y agoWill the legislative branch allow him to enact his policies?
- Izikiel43 3y agoHe will have to negotiate with jxc, but if they support him he should be able to. The biggest issue will be the senate I think