Libertarianism Works But Statists Would Rather Burn the House Down Than Rebuild It.
President Javier Milei, an open free market capitalist, Austrian economist, and avowed Libertarian, has achieved wonders in Argentina in under two years in office. The most prominent is in the reduction in inflation, which sat at roughly 25.5% when he came into office, and now sits below 2%. There have also been reductions in debt, the freezing of a multitude of state programs, and sweeping cuts to federal employment rolls leading to the first surplus in 16 years.
Milei famously took a chainsaw to the bloated, socialist bureaucracy and government, which was unsustainable and a massive drain on the economy and people of Argentina. The new President received his laurels for his aggressive approach, which delivered virtually instant stabilization in several sectors, however to any student of history it was clear that there cannot be wounds dealt to the slobbering beast of Socialism without a mirrored amount of pain inflicted on the nation and its inhabitants as a result during the period of transition to a market economy.
There are tangible effects of the austerity policy that have impacted the day-to-day lives and livelihoods of Argentinians. The poverty rate, which was already in excess of 40% of the population under the former Peronist (state control of all major industries and means of production) government of Alberto Fernandez, dropped significantly before rising again in 2025. Citizens who formerly held state-sponsored, full-time jobs (or that were heavily subsidized by the government) were now forced into a “gig” economy. To those directly feeling the pain of austerity measures, it can’t be argued that in the short term since Milei took office, things were empirically “worse.”
However, to argue that the measures themselves, or that Austrian and Libertarian governance is failing in Argentina overlooks the failed-state that the nation had already become under socialist leadership. Were the policies of the Peronists to continue, Argentina’s hyperinflation and debt burden would have destroyed the country, its economy, and its people utterly. The only thing that has saved Argentina from the abyss is Libertarianism.
Something that has long held Argentina back was the socialist influence on its largest sectors – primarily natural resources like agricultural products, but also petroleum products and automotive component manufacturing. Argentina’s economy lacks basic technology upgrades in its manufacturing and farming sectors to keep pace, primarily due to government controls on currency, a mazelike bureaucracy, corruption, high taxation, and an unstable and difficult exchange rate. Under the Milei government, which has reduced taxes, red tape, and loosened currency controls, the private sector is finally able to import the manufacturing upgrades that have been desperately needed.
Additionally, under the previous Peronist administration, the vast majority of the budget was spent on welfare, meaning the nation’s infrastructure was crumbling, ill-maintained, and never expanded. There is now an opportunity to update Argentina’s ability to traffic goods and services.
Despite these improvements, leftists have once again made gains based upon the promised return to mass welfare spending, by winning the most recent election in the city of Buenos Aires. The pain that was inevitable with any austerity has been used by the labor unions and formerly powerful socialist elites as a cudgel to beat and fool the masses into voting in their voluntary return to state-supported slavery.
The true fight now is beyond the economy. Argentina must create a culture that rewards hard work, entrepreneurism, and individual empowerment. The question that remains is whether the people of Argentina have faith or fear of the future.
“Milei proved what every libertarian already knows: freedom works, but statists would rather burn the house down than admit they built it on sand. The suffering in Argentina isn’t from the cure, it’s the withdrawal from the poison of socialism.
Milei himself has spawned a libertarian movement in Latin America, as other countries wish to emulate the rise in standards of living and throw off the shackles of socialism. It’s an arduous process marked by pushback and growing pains, but the ultimate result is prosperity, stability, and human flourishing. Libertarians do not offer a utopia, only a better life, socialists offer a utopia, while they line their friends’ pockets.” – quote from LNC Chair Steven Nekhaila