२० नोव्हेंबर, २०२३

"[Javier] Milei has pledged to slash spending and taxes, close Argentina’s central bank and replace the nation’s currency with the U.S. dollar."

"He has also proposed banning abortion, loosening regulations on guns and considering only countries that want to 'fight against socialism' as Argentina’s allies, often naming the United States and Israel as examples. In his victory speech, he attacked the political 'caste' that he says has enriched themselves at the expense of average Argentines, saying 'today is the end to Argentine decadence.'...

From "Argentina Elects Javier Milei in Victory for Far Right/Argentina’s next president is a libertarian economist whose brash style and embrace of conspiracy theories has parallels with those of Donald J. Trump" (NYT).

Is he like Trump? We're told "his strong adherence to a libertarian ideology... has led him to support, in theory, policies like open immigration and drug decriminalization." The similarities? "He harshly attacks his critics and the news media, he calls the scientific consensus on climate change a socialist plot, he argues that a shadowy cabal controls the country and he even has an unruly hairdo that has become an online meme."

An example of his rhetoric: "The state is a pedophile in a kindergarten... with the children chained up and bathed in Vaseline."

Key fact: Inflation in Argentina is over 140%.

६६ टिप्पण्या:

tim maguire म्हणाले...

It's a big risk tying his presidency to US policy. Especially while Democrats are in charge. God knows what we'll look like even just a year from now with Biden in charge.

typingtalker म्हणाले...

Let us not confuse theory with practice -- practice is implementation of theory and in this case will be difficult, disrupting and painful -- sort of like making a baby.

Dave Begley म्हणाले...

Milei wins election with 55% of the vote.

Morning Joe, just now, claims he’s a threat to democracy.

Leland म्हणाले...

Everyone the mainstream international media doesn't like is now compared to Trump, the way Trump is compared to Hitler. None of what Milei says about his opponents is what matters, is that he says it all. What he says isn't disputed, because if often cannot be (short of the now infamous "presented no evidence"), so they complain that it was stated at all. For being so open, he's is Trump and Trump is Hitler.

And oh yeah, inflation is at 140%, so why not bring Milei in on a landslide. At some point, reality hits you, and you realize doing something different maybe all you can do.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

It adds Argentina's GDP to ours for dollars to bid on, which helps US inflation, unless the US uses the opportunity to lower interest rates to make it a wash.

Lars Porsena म्हणाले...

...and now the hard part for Argentina begins. Will they stick it out?

gilbar म्हणाले...

but, REMEMBER! abortion is The Number One Issue, in The World... right?

Quaestor म्हणाले...

Donald Trump announced his candidacy in 2015, has NYT or any mouthpiece of the Democratic Party ever used non-harsh or less-than-insulting terms in their coverage? I’d be grateful for even one example.

Leland म्हणाले...

Enough about Mr. Milei, can we discuss Mrs. Milei?

Jamie म्हणाले...

difficult, disrupting and painful -- sort of like making a baby.

You might be doing it wrong...

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

“Harshly attacks” eh? You know who else harshly attacks their critics? Socialists, Democrats and especially Progressives. Like the Monoparty Media, which not at all coincidentally is harshly attacking this guy instead of simply presenting the facts about Argentina.

James K म्हणाले...

We're told "his strong adherence to a libertarian ideology... has led him to support, in theory, policies like open immigration and drug decriminalization."

I don't think Argentina has had to worry about a wave of immigration (more emigration) given the state of their economy, though they might if he is able to implement much of what he plans. Does he have the power and control of legislatures to do all those things? I have no idea. It will be fun to watch though.

Tim म्हणाले...

Maybe it is time people were reminded of what far right is. Pinochet was far right. Libertarian is about as far from far right as you can get. The far right and the far left very similar. I prefer those who err on the side of individual freedom and choice. Anyone who aims to keep government out of my life gets my support.This guy sounds pretty good to me.

The Crack Emcee म्हणाले...

THE DAILY MAIL: Argentina's Javier Milei: Right-wing former 'tantric sex coach'

Rusty म्हणाले...

" In his victory speech, he attacked the political 'caste' that he says has enriched themselves at the expense of average Argentines, saying 'today is the end to Argentine decadence.'.."
Good on him. I wish him luck.
I have a question for all our commenters. Has any congresscritter of either stripe ever left office poorer than when they started?

Stick म्हणाले...

Bullshit detector:
"scientific consensus on climate change"

DavidD म्हणाले...

The United States as an example of a country that wants to fight against socialism?

We’d better hurry up and get started.

Old and slow म्हणाले...

I wish him well. He's got a mountain of institutional opposition to climb. I never thought he could be elected, but he sure seems like an interesting guy. He's nothing like Trump. He's actually pretty radical.

Mike (MJB Wolf) म्हणाले...

The US dollar, despite our shitty leaders, is a stabilizing move considering the current economic situation there.

narciso म्हणाले...

Pinochet was not Far Right, he had a libertarian administration on economics the Chicago boys, don't you recall, he freed up state enterprises, he did crush leftists,

Michael म्हणाले...



The state is a pedophile in a kindergarten... with the children chained up and bathed in Vaseline

Absolute legend

Enigma म्हणाले...

Post-WW2 globalist dogmas are dying left, right, and center (UN, trade and economics, WHO, etc.), so the old order is fighting tooth-and-nail to preserve its hegemony. Forget conservative vs. liberal -- focus on the lives and resources available to everyday people versus tight metering and controls executed the wealthy and central control organizations.

Is the US dollar better than crazy Argentine inflation, or are both converging on dysfunction? Is the US morally superior to China or Russia? Hmmm. This guy seems as naïve as Trump and Ramaswamy about the potential of draining the well-organized global swamp. The swamp is now fully awake (post Brexit and Trump) about the threats to its existence, and on the offense to enforce control.

rehajm म्हणाले...

…at this point what Donald Tump conspiracy theories have not proven to be true? I’m leaning toward the definition of conspiracy theory as ‘truth we don’t want you to know’…

Gusty Winds म्हणाले...

He's right. The scientific "consensus" on climate change is a socialist plot.

Here in the states our elite enrich themselves off tax money, war, and "education" scams. They even accept foreign bribes in exchange for influence.

Good for Argentina. 140% inflation will wake some people up.



rehajm म्हणाले...

Argentina has been an economic basket case for a long time. The classic socialist vs capitalist battle. What we have now in the US without having the world’s reserve currency*. Every time they begin to do the right things the socialists gain enough power to eff things up. Sound familiar?

* yes, US dollar is still the choice despite all the punditry to the contrary. Remember all those experts proclaiming Bitcoin was taking over? It wasn’t that long ago…

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

We all know corrupt South American nations can only be run by corrupt leftists.

rehajm म्हणाले...

Chile had the best run of the SA problem children. The personal pension investment funds did wonders to stabilize their economy and improve per capita household wealth. As per usually the socialists effed it up…

Wilbur म्हणाले...

Melei Wins Election; Pope Hardest Hit.

Don't cry for me.

rehajm म्हणाले...

"The state is a pedophile in a kindergarten... with the children chained up and bathed in Vaseline."

I don’t know what state he’s describing but if he’s describing the US that’s wrong and irresponsible. In the US the state takes money from the pedophile PACs so the pedophiles gain access to the kids. The state seems content to just fuck each other…

Kate म्हणाले...

I don't know if the "metaphor" tag is quite up to the task with this one.

James K म्हणाले...

Good for Argentina. 140% inflation will wake some people up.

What will it take to wake Americans up? In the late 70s it was double-digit inflation plus the Iran hostage crisis, along with Jimmuh's ineptitude.

Original Mike म्हणाले...

"Argentina Elects Javier Milei in Victory for Far Right/Argentina’s next president is a libertarian economist whose brash style and embrace of conspiracy theories has parallels with those of Donald J. Trump" (NYT).

How is a libertarian a victory for the far right? The NYT doesn't even try anymore. Or maybe the 20-somethings running it now don't know their ass from a hole in the ground. Or, maybe they know their readers don't. Or, all of the above. Embarrassing.

n.n म्हणाले...

A Bad Recipe for Science

Politically-motivated manufacture of scientific consensus corrupts the scientific process and leads to poor policy decisions.
...
With regards to climate change, what is going on represents more than politically motivated consensus enforcement and cancel culture. Climate change has become a secular religion, rife with dogma, heretics and moral-tribal communities

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

In most religions God saves us, but in climate change (Gaia) religion we save God.

Michael K म्हणाले...

They will do to him what they did to Bolsonaro. The corruption of the ruling class knows no limits.

hombre म्हणाले...

"... embrace of conspiracy theories has parallels with those of Donald J. Trump."

The bullshit never stops with the clowns at NYT. Rejection of the failed, destructive ideology of the leftist cult is not to "embrace conspiracy theories."

Hopefully, we will not fall as far as Argentina before our people wake up. Meanwhile our fate will be decided by the antisemites, baby killers and other charmers who are Democrat voters. Them and the cheaters (another well-documented "conspiracy theory").

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...

So Milei has to:
1. balance government books
2. stop the press at the central bank
3. end widespread subsidies
4. fix the FX rate
5. renegotiate debt with the IMF and general creditors
6. avoid causing a massive civil conflict and economic collapse in the process

Well, honestly, I wish him good luck. Argentina has tried everything and nothing worked.

Caroline म्हणाले...

“The state is a pedophile in a kindergarten... with the children chained up and bathed in Vaseline." Think I’ll make a sampler out of that and stitch it I to a pillow.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Argentine stocks surged 13% overnight while bonds went up 13%.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

Correction: Bonds rallied 8%.

See, NYT? It’s not that hard to print a correction.

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...

I’m shocked (shocked!) that Sergio Massa who was finance minister and presided over a devastating deterioration of the peso, 140% inflation, and spiking poverty rates and unemployment lost the election.

William म्हणाले...

I wish him luck, but even if he succeeds, he'll be damned. Pinochet had a modicum of economic success in Chile and, in any event, he didn't lead his country off a clip as has happened in Cuba and Venezuela. Still, he gets a worse press than Peron, Castro or Chavez...Historically and paradoxically the only successful left wing government is the one that gets overthrown by rightists. Allende is a fond memory. If only he had been allowed to continue, who knows what wonders he would have achieved. Same thing with the Bolsheviks. If they had been defeated in the civil war, they would be talked about in the same reverent tones that we talk about the Paris Communes. They would have probably inspired a few good musicals.

John म्हणाले...

Is it not generally known that Ecuador and El Salvador got rid of their own currencies years ago and now use the U.S. dollar only? I do not mean merely in the sense that Panama does, where prices are formally stated in balboas but the exchange rate has been at par since WWII and the only money you actually see are dollars, and cents. Well, maybe not cents, or pennies...but all other coins, yes. Very odd, to find in El Salvador that that is where all the Sacajawea dollars went. And they were worn. Anyway, there is precedent in Latin America for the complete abandonment of native money. I can't even remember what El Salvador used to call its own. Ecuador's had been the sucre.

Now, how much better off these countries are economically, I am unsure. Maybe not much. Or to resort to the template I use for all countries, Ecuador is still full of Ecuadoreans, El Salvador is still full of Salvadorans, and Argentina is still full of Argentines.

Speaking of Argentina, I was just there this year, after visits in 1986 and 2012, and the pesos I'd saved from that last trip were now worth, in total, 4¢. I was a bit disappointed that the Buenos Aires subway's turnstiles no longer accepted tokens. Now it's all electronic, which just doesn't go with the old-timey vibe of this really very impressive mass-transit system. Anyway, what I was especially happy not to see this time was scrip. There had been that on my first visit. Provincially emitted bills. Luckily I was able to spend almost all of 'em on the train ticket out of Tucumán, and in Buenos Aires get actual national money, which I think at the time was the austral. There was no guarantee at all that that scrip would be honored in any other province.

Scrip: possibly coming to a state near you. May it come no closer.

Douglas B. Levene म्हणाले...

What Original Mike said about the NYT.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves म्हणाले...

They tell us that voting for someone they don’t like will destroy democracy.
All while the corrupt left destroy democracy.

n.n म्हणाले...

A capital and credit crisis that affects not just minorities (number, not color), but rather the majority.

Iman म्हणाले...

Biden may be gunning for that 140% inflation rate! It’s within reach, Lambchop Biden!

n.n म्हणाले...

When we hear empathetic appeals to relieve burdens from policy shapers living in Martha's Vineyard, NYC, California, etc.

Static Ping म्हणाले...

I watched a video with an analysis of Argentina's economy recently. Significant parts of the economy are protected from competition and have been for a long time. These industries have zero interest in innovating since they don't need to, which makes them uncompetitive outside the national borders. Much of the export economy is based around raw resources, like beef, which makes the export values unstable. Typically what will happen is Argentina will manage to get a lot of money flowing into the country, either through investments when there is a boom in one of their exports or borrowing money, the economy will grow rapidly for a while, and then the bill will come and there is nothing to pay it with. Cue massive inflation and economic collapse. They have gone through this process multiple times.

To fix the Argentinian economy is going to require a lot of pain. I'm not sure the Argentinians will be willing to experience that long enough to break the cycle.

Joe Bar म्हणाले...

Leland said...
Enough about Mr. Milei, can we discuss Mrs. Milei?

If you mean Fatima FloreS, they are not married (yet), but VA-VA VOOM!

Milo Minderbinder म्हणाले...

Milei have one very important thing in common: they both champion personal freedom. And that will be the principal theme in the US election next year: personal freedom.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

The state is a pedophile in a kindergarten... with the children chained up and bathed in Vaseline.

Orange Man better up his game.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

"Well, honestly, I wish him good luck. Argentina has tried everything and nothing worked."

Argentina hasn't tried everything- it is why Milei won the election- he is promising to try the things that Argentina hasn't tried. I doubt he succeeds- the entrenched interests in having a central bank are not going to give up quietly, and they will be perfectly willing to put a bullet in Milei to stop him.

Greg the Class Traitor म्हणाले...

Argentina was on its way to Great power status when the Perons destroyed it. It's a great country, with great people. I doubt Milei can undo all the rot, but I wish him the best

Brian McKim and/or Traci Skene म्हणाले...

Miley's Wiki is a hoot. He's said to embrace a "far-right conspiracy theory" called "cultural Marxism."

Apparently, according to Wiki, uttering the phrase "Cultural Marxism " Mark's one as idiotic and anti-Semitic.

Greg the Class Traitor म्हणाले...

"scientific consensus on climate change"
https://hotair.com/david-strom/2023/11/20/global-warming-delayed-who-could-have-guessed-n593374

Global Warming Delayed, Who Could Have Guessed? Plants will absorb 20 per cent more carbon dioxide than predicted by the end of the century, a new study has found, suggesting climate models are overestimating how fast the planet will warm.

Trinity College Dublin said its research painted an “uncharacteristically upbeat picture for the planet” after finding models had failed to take into account all the elements of photosynthesis.



Apparently the AGW dogma was that having more food (CO2), energy (heat) and water would cause plants to grow LESS

No, that's not the way it works. And some actual scientists decided to test this insane hypothesis, and found out that no, that's not how that works

John henry म्हणाले...

Our president emeritus is on a roll. Over 90%of his endorses won in 2022.

Now he has a 100% win record in Argentina.

Not bad. Not bad at all.

John Henry

robother म्हणाले...

Crack: Argentina's Javier Milei: Right-wing former 'tantric sex coach'

You say that like it's a bad thing.

Hassayamper म्हणाले...

He will fail without vigorous, perhaps somewhat extralegal efforts to destroy the Left. Socialism is like rust. It never sleeps. It will persist as long as envy, greed, and laziness persist in the human heart.

No titan of industry is as greedy as a lazy socialist demanding to live at the expense of another. Collectivism is as evil as slavery, and in fact is a form of it, and should be opposed by all decent people with the same pitiless force we'd apply if the Triangle Trade were revived.

Hassayamper म्हणाले...

Enough about Mr. Milei, can we discuss Mrs. Milei?

If you mean Fatima Flores, they are not married (yet), but VA-VA VOOM!


Hmm. Eye-catching indeed. Forty years ago she'd have my rapt attention. However, her rather square-jawed countenance would make me very cautious in today's environment. I would not fully trust my instincts until I had seen the definitively distinguishing anatomic features with my own eyes.

Eva Marie म्हणाले...

Scott Adams: Argentina had up to 30,000,000 paper ballots, counted them and results were known next day. Maricopa county, AZ had approx 1,900,000 ballots and couldn’t come up with a count by the next day.

Michelle Dulak Thomson म्हणाले...

Interesting article, in that "Peronist" never appeared in it. I presume that's because the Peronistas are now considered "right-wing" in the US, and you can't have two "right-wing" candidates contesting an election; one just has to be the good guy.

wendybar म्हणाले...

"This is the dream for MAGA America."

https://x.com/CitizenFreePres/status/1726682472493240713?s=20

Kakistocracy म्हणाले...

The objective of the left wing Media will be to play up all the goals of Milei and then show how he didn't reach them. The Peronistas will certainly do everything to make him fail. But if he does nothing (because he is stopped in Congress) it is a net improvement over the Peronistas who do everything wrong. Sad to say but doing "nothing" in Argentina is better than the Peronistas doing anything.

It will all come down to whether Milei can generate enough growth in his first term to secure a second term and then truly transform Argentina. The first two years will be messy, no matter what.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Caroline: you could make millions with that cross-stitch pillow idea. Just in time for Christmas.

The Times calling Trump a libertarian open borders guy ... I'm just speechless. No wait, I'm not. This is just the silence of glowering.

MadTownGuy म्हणाले...

Eva Marie said...

"Scott Adams: Argentina had up to 30,000,000 paper ballots, counted them and results were known next day. Maricopa county, AZ had approx 1,900,000 ballots and couldn’t come up with a count by the next day."

Attorney General Mayes Issues Statement on Mohave County's Decision on 2024 Election Hand Count

"Attorney General Kris Mayes today issued the following statement after the Mohave County Board of Supervisors vote today:

I am greatly relieved and commend the Mohave County Board of Supervisors for their decision not to authorize a hand count of all ballots for the 2024 election, upholding Arizona law. As Attorney General, it is my duty to enforce our laws and ensure the integrity of our elections. The Board’s decision to adhere to state-mandated procedures for ballot counting avoids potential legal complications and reinforces public trust in the integrity of our elections.
"