With 55% of the votes, Javier Milei becomes the president of Argentina. 40 years after the dictatorship of the generals, it is an ultraliberal populist denying the crimes of the dictatorship who wins.
Who is Javier Milei?
The World Economic Forum website learn that he is an economist who made a career with HSBC, a British bank belonging to the top 10 in the world.
He worked as an economist for 13 years for the Argentine billionaire Eduardo Eurnekian. It is thanks to him that the “Argentinian Zelensky” was able to colonize the media space. According to the consulting firm “Ejes de Communicación”, for example, he was the most invited economist in 2018.
His fascination (feigned or not) with Judaism is probably explained by the fact that his patron Eduardo Eurnekian is Jewish. Hence also his intention to move the Argentine embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Regarding foreign policy, Mr. Milei makes no secret of wanting to align with the United States and break diplomatic relations with Russia, China and even Brazil. So farewell to the BRICS club which was stretching out its arms.
Economically, Mr. Milei is a die-hard libertarian. He embodies degagisme, economic laissez-faire and the drastic reduction in the size of the State. Under his presidency, the number of ministries will fall from 18 to 8.
One of his slogans “Let everyone go away!” » is a snub to the Latin American socialist parties who had the same slogan 15 years ago. “Long live freedom, carajo!” » (Long live freedom, damn it!) is another.
Pro Bitcoin?
No mention of bitcoin in his political program. The only time Javier Milei spoke about it was on this occasion:
Asked whether bitcoin could be a monetary alternative in Argentina, the populist quickly refocused the conversation on his favorite thing:
” To have. The first thing to understand is that the central bank is a scam. It is a mechanism by which politicians plunder good people through the tax of inflation. What bitcoin represents is the return of money to its original creator: the private sector. […] The fact that states decide which currency is legal tender allows politicians to plunder us through inflation.
The bitcoin algorithm means that it will one day reach a certain amount and no more. It may compete with other currencies. It competes with ethereum and others. What is interesting is the return of money to the hands of the private sector. But what’s the problem? This is because the government will not give up its power to choose which currency is legal tender. […] Bitcoin is the natural reaction against the scam that central banks are trying to make money private again. »
Combining actions with words, Mr. Milei promised to abolish the central bank and dollarize the country:
“The first thing we are going to do is reform the monetary system. I will organize a referendum if necessary. And when 70% or 80% of the population wants to eliminate the peso, I will bring them to Congress. »
“Austrian” economic doctrine
Milei has four dogs resulting from the cloning of her previous dog, Conan, who died in 2017. They are named Robert, Lucas, Milton and Murray respectively, in honor of the economists of the same name.
Murray Rothbard was in favor of abolishing all central banks in favor of free banking. That is to say the freedom for private banks to issue their own currency.
This was the case in the United States from 1837 to 1864. Everyone being free to create their own bank, many did so with the intention of defrauding their customers (Wild Cat Banking). Which is reminiscent of the shitcoin industry…
For Milton Friedman, the abolition of the central bank only made sense if the currency of another country was adopted. This is what he advised Chile in the early 1980s: dollarization and abolition of the central bank.
Faithful to his idols, Milei has the firm intention of dollarizing Argentina. And since he says he is in favor of free competition between currencies, some see this as an opportunity for bitcoin. We will see.
By the way, his opponent Sergio Massa had for his part a concrete pro bitcoin proposal. Namely allowing bitcoin miners to join forces with the Argentine oil industry. This makes sense given that local exchanges can no longer obtain bitcoins abroad due to lack of sufficient foreign exchange reserves.
But actually, where does Argentina’s economic crisis come from?
The debt of the generals
Argentina’s economic problems are not new. Contrary to what Javier Milei says, it was not the socialists who ruined the country, but the generals of the dictatorship of the 1970s.
These generals have looted the country by borrowing billions of dollars (from American banks) before divert to tax havens. Or to waste them on non-productive military toys.
The public debt quintupled during this period, from 8 to 43 billion dollars. The IMF has since taken over this debt inherited from the generals. Even today, almost 30% of all loans granted by the IMF are in favor of Argentina:
These clarifications having been made, it remains to be proven how submitting to a foreign central bank (the Fed) could well arrange the affairs of Argentines?
Borrowing dollars from American banks means paying interest to Americans rather than Argentines. By what miracle could such an abandonment of sovereignty ultimately benefit the Argentines?
Let’s finish with a hot reaction of Claire Balva :
“Maybe the fact that the guy denies global warming should raise awareness about his seriousness and his mental health? […] A guy who wants to ban abortion is not liberal. He is a puppet who has not studied the subject (like the climate for that matter) and who uses freedom as an argument with variable geometry to do what suits him. »
El loco may be living up to his nickname.
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