Posted originally on Apr 15, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
It took President Javier Milei of Argentina a mere two months to push his nation into a surplus. The Economy Ministry declared that the government posted a $589 million surplus, the first surplus in recent memory. Western media has been silent about Milei’s victory as his policies are pushing the nation back on the path of capitalism, whereas the West insists on continually moving toward socialistic policies.
Milei has pushed forth an emergency package in an attempt to balance the budget and introduced an austerity package worth around $1.4 trillion. He famously slashed government agencies that contribute nothing to the economy. Every public employee on payroll for less than a year has been terminated. He is aiming to reduce government by 34% overall. Transfers to local government have ceased.
He has called his measures a form of “shock therapy” for Argentina’s economy. Milei agreed to devalue the nation’s peso from around 350 to 800 pesos per USD. He has eliminated quotas on imports and exports and removed the licensing that was difficult to obtain. There is a temporary rise in taxes for non-agricultural trade that brings it on par with industry standards. Transportation and energy subsidies have been eliminated.
The Western media has only supported stories criticizing Milei for being a right-wing fanatical, the Donald Trump of Argentina. No one wants to report that his policies are effective and the improvements have been immediate. This man was brave enough to stand in front of the crowd at Davos and criticize them for their flawed ideologies. “The main leaders of the Western world have abandoned the model of freedom for different versions of what we call collectivism,” Milei said to a hostile crowd at Davos. “We’re here to tell you that collectivist experiments are never the solution to the problems that afflict the citizens of the world—rather they are the root cause.”
He said there was no one better to testify to this sentiment than the people of Argentina, who saw their nation fall after adopting collectivism/socialism. He believes unrestrained free market capitalism is the only way to end poverty and cited that the Industrial Revolution marked the first time the global economy truly saw growth. He said that collectivism has become fashionable in the West in recent years, but his nation had been declining for 80 years due to this illogical idea.
Those in charge want us to believe that capitalism equates to greed while collectivism is seen as a form of social justice but, of course, requires the money of others. Free enterprise is under constant attack, and Milei is one of the only world leaders fighting for its existence. “Social justice is not just. It doesn’t contribute to the general well-being,” Milei said to Davos, citing that socialism is “intrinsically unfair” and forces the state to attack the people for taxes. “Can any of us say that they voluntarily pay taxes?” he asked the crowd.
This is the first time Argentina has had a surplus in over a decade. Some may not realize how drastic these changes have been for the nation and undoubtedly proof that reregulation is efficient. Allowing the market to operate freely is the only logical option. The public sector is an absolute drain on a nation’s resources, and slashing tens of thousands of needless jobs and dozens of cabinets has helped Argentina in the short and long-term.
Centinel2012 