America Should Look to Argentina!

John Stossel on Jan 29, 2025

Finally, a real libertarian is president. That's in Argentina, where last year, Javier Milei surprised pundits by winning the election by a landslide. Now that he's had a chance to govern, my new video covers the results and explains why Milei is now even more popular.

Argentina was once one of the richest countries in the world. Then, years of big government brought high inflation and poverty. By last year, Argentina was one of the poorest and least free countries in the world. Then Milei, an economist, ran for office, saying things like, "The state is not the solution. The state is the problem!" The media called him "radical" and "far-right."

Why? Milei is OK with sex work and gay marriage (he says marriage should be a private contract -- none of the government's business). He even says people should have the right to choose their own gender. That isn't "far-right." Milei's a libertarian. He mainly wants government to do less.

"Argentina had been infected with socialism for far too long ... " he said at this year's World Economic Forum. "With us, it would once again embrace the ideas of freedom -- a model that we summarize as the defense of life, liberty and private property."

He'd campaigned holding a chainsaw to illustrate how much government needed to be cut. I think he stole that idea from my videos! He points out that government has no money of its own, so whatever it spends, it takes from you. To the surprise of "experts," Milei won. Actually, he won by a landslide.

Then pundits declared that he would fail. A BBC report pointed out that Milei's "predecessors have tried and failed to turn the economy around." The reporter confidently concluded, "Milei will be no exception." Milei "is pushing a disastrous old agenda," agreed a Washington Post columnist.

"Economists warn electing far-right Milei would spell 'devastation'" said reporters at The Guardian, adding "More than 100 economists" warn that Milei's free-market policies are "'potentially very harmful ... likely to cause more devastation.'" But they didn't. They've succeeded.

"When Milei came into power," says Ian Vasquez, vice president for international studies at the Cato Institute, "there was 40% poverty rate ... annual inflation of over 200%."

Just one year later, "Inflation is down. The economy started to recover in the second part of last year, way before what most people expected."

Monthly inflation at the start of his presidency was about 25%. Last month, prices rose 2.7% -- still too much, but way down. Inflation fell because Milei's government spent less. "Milei got rid of nine ministries. He cut government spending by 30%!" says Vasquez. "Milei is showing that his libertarian policies are working."

Milei shut down 200 state entities and government offices. He fired thousands of bureaucrats. He cut subsidies for energy, transportation and gasoline. "Two deregulations per day," notes Vasquez. Yet he's more popular than ever. Now Argentina has a budget surplus. I wish America's politicians would pay attention to Milei's free-market reforms.

Argentina's rent controls had caused a shortage of apartments. "When Milei lifted rent controls," says Vasquez, "the supply of apartments in Argentina tripled and their price fell by about half!" He also deregulated airlines, allowing new routes, pricing and competition.

Argentina still has big problems, like lots of poverty. Argentina's tariffs, import bureaucracy and high sales taxes make consumer goods expensive; an $800 iPhone costs almost $3,000 there.

"Argentina still has a long way to go," says Vasquez, "that's why Milei recently said, what's coming is the 'deep chainsaw.'" Can we get a deep chainsaw in the United States? Our government keeps spending more than it takes in. We're on a path to bankruptcy. It's why I hope Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency will make Milei-style cuts in the United States. Musk has noticed what Milei did, saying, "He's making all the right moves."

Milei's success not only shows that cuts are possible, but that when they are explained intelligently, they are popular. After Milei cut government, his approval rating rose 6 points. Freedom works!

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Every Tuesday at JohnStossel.com, Stossel posts a new video about the battle between government and freedom.