Elected president of Argentina in 2023, Javier Milei, a self described anarcho-capitalist, was dealt a tough starting hand. At the time of his election, Argentina was suffering from over 200% inflation, paired with a 6.3% unemployment rate. The economy of Argentina was arguably one of the most mismanaged in the developed world. Since Milei has taken office, inflation has sharply dropped, the government is out of a deficit for the first time in 123 years, and Argentina has, for the first time in recent history, a bright economic future. 

For decades the Argentine economy lived off of debt that was initially taken out for the purpose of developing Argentine industry, opting to do so through nationalization and subsidization. Most of this debt has been used to subsidize large sectors of the Argentine economy, to such an extent that at one point 74% of the nation’s national expenses were dedicated towards subsidies. These subsidies, such as the ridiculous 12.4 billion USD spent on energy subsidies in 2022, have been used to prop up failing sectors of Argentine domestic industry. This practice of import subsidization, a policy which attempts to subsidize domestic goods to be able to outcompete foreign imports, created a disaster for Argentina. This has been paired with a constantly bloated bureaucracy and ludicrous social programs, both of which cost Argentina obscene amounts of money that it simply did not have. The economy of Argentina is a case study for mismanagement, with a staggering nine defaults since independence.

 Milei’s first move was, unsurprisingly, to push austerity measures and deregulation, which helped Argentina finally lift its long-held deficit. The halt of deficit spending allowed a decrease in monetary expansion, and thus, a decrease in inflation. Due to looser regulations, prices have also plummeted. For example, due to the elimination of rent control, rent has, on average, dropped by 40%. 

While the numbers look good for Argentina, they are projected to only get better. As Milei attempts to tackle inflation by adopting the USD as the standard currency and continues his policy of deregulation, inflation is projected to decline by an impressive (relatively speaking) 35% as soon as the end of 2025. 

In all, the libertarian economics of Milei have not only been a win for the people of Argentina, but also for global precedents in policy making.