When Argentina’s new President Javiar Milei flew to Davos on Lufthansa, I shared the photo of him in the airline’s business class cabin that I first saw on social media. I assumed he flew business class – not private, or first class. That seemed reasonable and importantly symbolic. It turns out that he flew coach.
You can think whatever you want about Milei, but taking Lufthansa flight to Davos while so many „ESG focused“ officials and executives come with private jets is exactly the right signal to send. pic.twitter.com/VtOWcIGF33
— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) January 16, 2024
Here he is in the coach cabin on the flight out of his country. The economist-turned-President of the beleaguered country sat with his fellow citizens in the back of the bus and connected.
Argentinian President Javier Milei flew to Zurich for Davos on a commercial Lufthansa flight. His fellow passengers seemed to be big fans. pic.twitter.com/I6D5CEW00n
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) January 17, 2024
When Milei arrived at the World Economic Forum he had a big stage. And he unleashed on that crowd for its self-congratulations while their prescriptions lead to poverty for the world.
The West is in danger, it is in danger because those who are supposed to defend Western values find themselves co-opted by a worldview that—inexorably—leads to socialism, consequently to poverty.
Milei's 2024 Davos talk, directly translated to English by AI (by heygen), in his own accent. Better than the dubbed version imo. pic.twitter.com/8OAGELuqxl
— Aaron Slodov (@aphysicist) January 18, 2024
Argentina became a kleptocracy, where those in power directed resources to favored constituencies while 40% of the country suffered in poverty and the nation faces 200% inflation. They are the IMF’s largest debtor.
He offers,
Free market capitalism is not only a possible system to end world poverty, but also the only morally desirable system to achieve it. If we consider the history of economic progress, we can see how from year zero to 1800 the world’s per capita GDP remained practically constant..if one looks at a chart of the evolution of economic growth throughout human history..a hockey stick…exponentially shoots up from the 19th century.
He notes that 90% of the world’s population has been lifted out of extreme poverty by capitalism. “Far from being the cause of our problems, free market capitalism as an economic system is the only tool we have to end hunger, poverty…” and notes that since it’s superior, it is criticized ethically but social justice “is unfair and doesn’t contribute to general well-being.” The economy is not a “cake” that can be distributed in a different way, but the cake is not given – it must be created. Milei explains the economy as a Kirznerian entrepreneurial discovery process.
He offers, “Today’s world is freer, richer, more peaceful and more prosperous than every before. This is true for everyone, but particularly for those countries that are free where they respect economic freedom and individual property rights, because free countries are 12 times richer than repressed ones.”
Whether you accept his argument or not, or only in degree (I don’t personally track with his social ideas, heavily influenced by Argentine Catholicism), it was truly an extraordinary speech to stand in Davos and lay this out, blaming those in the audience effectively for keeping their own people in poverty.
I have criticized politicians for sitting in economy for the show of it, when they should have more space to work effectively. But sitting in back turns out to be a great strategy for a President that needs to be connected to the people and needs their support to overcome massive opposition in his country’s legislature and from the country’s labor unions.
Ronald Reagan said “Government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem.” But he didn’t have the comprehensive worldview, and he traded growth of government overall to get a larger military, even with control of the Senate for six years. Milei ends with, “The state is not the solution. The state is the problem itself.” That and, “thank you very much and long live freedom damnit.”
Milei taught university economics for 20 years, and authored several books. He has a comprehensive worldview, and Argentines broadly seem to want to give his prescriptions a chance – certainly those that came before have failed – but it’s unclear how much he’ll succeed in implementing them over objections from the legislative branch and courts. If unimplemented, and if Argentina’s woes continue, his policies will still receive blame – and likely be maligned as discredited.
Free market capitalism*
Which no one really has. We give welfare to land owners, in the US we stifle new business by withholding healthcare for your family if you dare try to work for yourself rather than someone else, the richest people in the world have companies that substantially benefit from government infrastructure but pay lower tax rates than their workers. Or no taxes at all.
We live in a society where parents who need two incomes to survive spend less time with their kids so one dude can have a bigger sailboat.
@Christopher Raehl : Irrelevant and wrong. Listen to his speech.
Don’t steal all the money.
That would help…..
My favorite Reagan quote of all time was “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help” “. We need to scale back the nanny state, get government out of business and people’s lives then let the strong and most capable flourish. Sad that the President of Argentina has a better grasp on the situation than our current administration.
Milei is a freakin’ rock star! The dude is telling it right to the faces of Dr. Evil and his (many) uber-wealthy supervillain colleagues in their fur-lined luxury lair.
Politics usually chews up and spits out philosophers. I wonder if the current version of Milei has any hope.
What do you mean by Argentine Catholicism? The Pope is an Argentine Catholic and Jesuit. I wouldn’t exactly lump the Pope and this Argentine President as being of the same ideological persuasions.
The way I see it, at least 5 billion people today are worse off with purchasing power today than 4 years ago at this time. All while all but the richest 100 million of the rest of the population is at best no worse off than 4 years ago.
And the historical big take-off in quality of life and economic benefits for the average person came following the populist/democratizing pushes against the hierarchical klepto-nepotistic capitalistic order of the mercantilistic and settler colonialism era and courtesy of the expansion of literacy and a public, increasingly secular educational systems that gave rise to new demands from a public less ignorant and less easily controlled than before.
Which place is more capitalistic and which place is more “socialist”: Argentina, the US or Sweden? In much more “socialist” than Argentina Sweden, the highest income individuals are hit by an effectively lower income tax rate than the average teacher, there is no inheritance/estate/gift tax and residential property taxes are negligible. The US has estate taxes, gift taxes and residential property taxes that are substantial — and that’s alongside substantial income taxes on salaried income.
The Argentine President talks a good game for the ears of Ayn Rand fans, but talk is cheap and this won’t be the first time Argentina gets plaudits from the Ayn Rand fans abroad and yet ends up piling on the debt and continues with its awful boom and bust cycles.
He flew Business Class on Lufthansa. Not economy.
I don’t see how his social beliefs are so influenced by Argentine Catholicism. He opposes abortion on the harm principle and consent, not Catholicism, does not oppose sex work or different kinds of marriage. He operates on the principle of consent. Not sure how you can say that.
That country should have been removed from the planet when they invaded British territory in the 80’s. He has no relevant opinion and no business at Davos.
@GUWonder
You’re perfect example of someone who thinks they are smart because they think they sound smart. Given the verbal bs you spew constantly it’s amazing even you still think that.
Do us all a favor and find a new hobby.
Andys,
If you don’t like what I said, you’re more than welcome to try to dispute it with facts and challenge items with which you disagree or want to try to refute. I don’t see you as having done that above.
Trying to be ignorant or letting ignorance stand isn’t going to be any new hobby of mine, but you do you and I will be I with interests and hobbies regardless of your wishes. 😉
He successfully smuggled a chinchilla on top of his head through customs
A maioria de quem opina aqui nem mesmo sabe onde a Argentina está localizada.
Não sabem como o país tem sido massacrado ano após ano por um Estado que se intromete cada dia mais na vida e nos negócios dos cidadãos argentinos.
O discurso do presidente Milei é um balde de água na cara dos ocidentais que sequer perceberam que estão dormindo, enquanto o socialismo já delineou o futuro das suas nações, não pelo uso da força e da violência – antigo modelo de implantação do
socialismo/comunismo – mas pelo excesso de regulação, subsídios, manipulação das taxas de juros e câmbio, congelamento de preços, incentivos direcionados a setores/empresas específicas, estatização de empresas, assistencialismo populista, emissão de moeda para gastos correntes do governo, etc, que acabam destruindo o capitalismo de livre mercado e piorando a qualidade de vida dos seus cidadãos.
O ESTADO NÃO É SOLUÇÃO PARA NADA.
NENHUM ESTADO GERA RIQUEZAS, APENAS AS ROUBA DE QUEM PRODUZ. (E geralmente as distribui a quem não produz e nem tem interesse de produzir!)
NADA É MAIS CARO DO QUE O SERVIÇO GRATUITO OFERECIDO PELO ESTADO.
Na verdade, quem apoia a intervenção do Estado na economia e gosta de viver suportado por Ele, é aquela pessoa frustrada que tem a consciência de sua incapacidade – ou falta de vontade – de vencer através do esforço e da meritocracia, e por isso, odeia quem alcançou sucesso por suas próprias competências.
Infelizmente, no fim, estes estúpidos vão conquistar o mundo!! Não por sua perspicácia ou robustez de sua estratégia, mas porquê são muitos!!
Scandinavian countries have high levels of Socialism, which provides a high standard of living and a lack of poverty. Contrast that with the USA which is the wealthiest nation in the history of the planet yet has appalling poverty and I’m gonna disagree with the premise that unfettered Capitalism is a good thing for the population of a country.
Hahahahahaha
Of course @Christian says SCANDINAVIAN countries have “high levels of socialism”, but would he, instead, say CHINA has high levels of capitalism?????
HAHAHHAHAHA
What a crap, friend!!
Scandinavian countries have a lot of (HIGH) taxes and offer good “public” services to their citizens. That’s all.
The lack of poverty and high standards of living have NOTHING with that!!
@Christian – it is about survival of the fittest. Capitalism is the best system. Yes there are winners and losers but people can achieve what they want if they get the education, take chances and are talented. Frankly I am fine with the system and have zero sympathy for the underclass. Sorry but most people that support socialism are losers with their hand out wanting something for nothing they never earned.
The game changer name is: FREEDOM!
@Retired Gambler – Have you actually been to Scandinavia? I have a lot of family there and they cheerfully support the Socialist system they have. Maybe you’ll call the Scandinavians losers but since they enjoy a higher standard of living than we do, zero poverty, and numerous ancillary benefits like six weeks of paid vacation I’m inclined to bunch their critics in as losers rather than them. Oh, and they consistently rank among the very happiest countries in the world. So, happy, rich, healthy, prosperous, productive, and egalitarian. These things are bad because…?
Wilson – we don’t speak dago here.
Christian – GFYS commie. We don’t pay commie taxes. You want stuff, pay for it.
Gary : rails against big guvmint
Also Gary : lives in a state that sees big guvmint financial bailouts every time it snows
Scandinavians seem to relocate to other countries when they start making a lot of money, if they can. The country in Scandinavia with the highest GDP per capita has a lot of petroleum wealth. I doubt the actual workers are happy about losing their wages to taxes. If you look at who moves to Scandinavia, you will not see a lot of Scandinavian descent people.
Retired Gambler,
In some ways, some “socialist” Scandinavian countries are sort of a capitalistic paradise. Win the lottery in Sweden? Zero tax on the gambling win. Win the lottery in the US? Uncle Sam will likely shake you down for gambling wins if you don’t give the IRS its due. And Scandinavian countries tend to have way less violent crime and less child poverty than we do in the US. Scary “socialist” Scandinavia, right? Oh, I don’t need to worry as much about nuts road raging with a gun or daily mass shootings when in Scandinavia than when back home in the US.
ins,
Americans too seem to relocate themselves and/or the money when starting to make a lot of money. The same will continue to go the way with Argentines under this Argentine President.
@Christian – yes I have been to Sweden and Denmark. My issue w their plan is while it provides safety nets it limits those who want to truly achieve great wealth which means they lag the US in productivity and innovation. Also, their spend on defense is much lower than the US and we couldn’t reasonably cut that back to the level of other countries. Without that reduction we could never afford the type of government programs offered in some European countries. Finally 6 weeks of vacation, 36 hour work weeks and generous leave policies make for a suboptimal business environment. Only lazy people strive for such a system at the expense of growing GDP
Sweden doesn’t have 36 hour work weeks as a standard across the board. There isn’t even a national minimum wage mandated by politicians in Sweden.
Not sure I would say Sweden and Denmark limits those who want to achieve great wealth. But what would I know after having had more friendly residential neighbors become self-made billionaires in Scandinavia than in the US during recent years.
Wealth begets wealth, and in Sweden there is no estate tax. And unlike with the US, they don’t put their claws into taxing their citizens living in another country. If only the US were “socialist” like Sweden, there would be more money to be made and kept by the wealthiest without enriching the accountants and tax lawyers. 😉
Retired Gambler,
Go compare Sweden+Denmark to Mississippi + Louisiana + Arkansas + Alabama + Oklahoma. Guess which place is economically better off and works for its people better. Or better yet, look at the numbers and compare the last 100 years of development. The wretched poverty I have seen in the rural South of the US reminds me of the worst of poverty in India with very stark contrast too.
Retired Gambler,
For Swedes (with no US nexus), gambling wins aren’t taxable income in Sweden. Sounds like that would be a “capitalist” paradise for you if you didn’t have a US taxation nexus.
@Fred—I assume you are being sarcastic. If you aren’t, what rock did you slime out from under after being stuck there for decades?
For all those here loving on the idea of the Government staying out of capitalism, does that apply to the 737-MAX? Can you imagine if federal agencies were not properly keeping Boeing in check? This is just one of thousands of examples. But something though that might be familiar to all you keyboard jockeys.
Stuart,
How much rat do the “government can only do wrong by regulating” types really want to eat? They must be fans of eating rat and roadkill.
Enterprising fly by night meat sellers would once again try to misleadingly or negligently sell rat as meat fit for human consumption in America, Argentina and elsewhere. And we can see from the hotel industry, that brand standards alone are not really all that reliably for consumers as some franchise owners/operators will push the limit and wrongfully exploit consumers’ ignorance and other situational disadvantages.
@GU Wonder
I agree, as I said, there are thousands of examples where if we eliminate Government we open the door for chaos. I am not saying we need to be mired in the bureaucracy of, say, Germany. But I think the U.S. currently balances a good middle ground example of allowing free enterprise and capitalism its fair shake without allowing it to become a carnival of abuse. There are so many industries that without oversight would turn into “Soylent Green.”
Lastly, I doubt Javiar Milei is a purist in this sense – an Ayn Rand lover to the core. I think he is taking an extreme approach knowing full well he will never get it all. Nor does he want it all. The first clue to this will be when Aerolineas Argentina fails in the next year or two, Argentina has a transportation crisis, and fly by night airlines crop up with no regulatory watch and planes start falling from the sky. He is taking an extreme approach as a hard push of finding a middle, which Argentina does need in the end.
@GUWonder – only 100M people in the world are better off than 4 years ago? That’s crazy talk. There’s 250M Americans better off than 4 years ago- unemployment dropped from 15% to less than 4%, real wages have climbed, the economy is growing at a historically high rate, stock market has hit all time highs… Those are all facts.
@ people involved in the Scandinavia is socialist argument:
Scandinavia has high taxes to pay for an extensive welfare state, but realizes high taxes are worthless if no one is making money. It is much easier to start & operate a business in Sweden than in the US.
George,
US unemployment in January 2020 wasn’t 15%, so from where did you come up with a drop in unemployment from 15% to 4% in these past four years or so?
250 million Americans don’t have more purchasing power today than at this time in 2020. Most real wage gains are concentrated at the top of the income end. Nominal wage gains came at the low end of the income spectrum too, but those don’t amount to much in real wage gains given how inflation has hit.
Most US stock market gains are pocketed by a small fraction of Americans.
I am not of the opinion that Americans in the aggregate are worse off under Biden than under Trump, but the idea that most Americans or most people in the world are economically better off today than ever before is just not true. More people in the world were better off 4-5 Januaries ago.
In January 2020, BLS reported the unemployment rate in the country was 3.6%.
That was the US unemployment rate. The Argentine unemployment rate has been far uglier for far longer.
I like the cut of his jib!
Melei at WEF January 17, 2024
Runs 26 minutes. Excellent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cJesCvTdh4
Simultaneous translation.
AI of Melei speech at WEF January 17, 2024
https://twitter.com/aphysicist/status/1747868626948907325
Much better than the simultaneous translation version.
This man should be the role model for national leaders everywhere.