NYT: FAR RIGHT LIBERTARIAN WINS ARGENTINE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY

New York Times ^ | Aug 14 | By Jack Nicas, Natalie Alcoba and Lucía Cholakian Herrera

[RandFan]

A far-right libertarian candidate won Argentina’s open presidential primary election on Sunday, a surprising showing for a politician who wants to adopt the U.S. dollar as Argentina’s official currency and embraces comparisons to Donald Trump.

Javier Milei, 52, a congressman, economist and former television pundit, secured 30 percent of the vote with 96 percent of the ballots counted, making him the front-runner for the presidency in the fall general election.

Polls had suggested that Mr. Milei’s support was at about 20 percent, and political analysts had predicted that his radical policy proposals — including abolishing the country’s central bank — would prevent him from attracting many more voters.

But the vote on Sunday made clear that Mr. Milei now has a clear shot at leading Argentina, a South American nation of 46 million with some of the world’s largest reserves of oil, gas and lithium.

“I think these results are surprising even to him,” said Pablo Touzon, an Argentine political consultant. “Up until now, he was a protest candidate.”

Argentina’s general election in October, which could go to a November runoff, will now become a new test of the strength of the far right around the world. Although hard-right forces have gained new influence in several powerful nations in recent years....

Mr. Milei has pitched himself as the radical change that the collapsing Argentine economy needs, and he could be a shock to the system if elected. Besides his ideas about the currency and the central bank, he has proposed drastically lowering taxes and cutting public spending, including by charging people to use the public health care system; closing or privatizing all state-owned enterprises; and eliminating the health, education and environment ministries.

[Wallace T.]

I don't know if monopolies can exist in a market economy short of government collusion, whether the railroads in the 19th Century or tech in the 21st Century. Cartels tend to corrupt government officials and pursue their own public policies, whether Zuckerberg in our day or Rockefeller a century ago. That is a weakness in a market economy system.

[Demiurge2]

Note from NYT editor to writers:
Not bad, but needs the term “far right” more.

[PGR88]

Milton Friedman famously said: “Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon, in the sense that it is and can be produced only by a more rapid increase in the quantity of money than in output.”

Maybe after 50 years of constant bouts of high and hyper-inflation Argentineans are waking up.

[PGR88]

Socialism as a thesis is a political plan. Liberty is its antithesis.

And the cure is hard money.

Its that simple.

Socialism is impossible with hard money as your currency. America's chattering classes (and many on FR) think centrally-planning money is possible for politicians and bureaucrats, and that our smart, Ivy-educated central-planners at the Federal Reserve are perfectly capable of doing so.

[DIRTYSECRET]

He wins. Then what? To get it to last he’ll need to go full Pinochet.

[Rummyfan]

Besides his ideas about the currency and the central bank, he has proposed drastically lowering taxes and cutting public spending, including by charging people to use the public health care system; closing or privatizing all state-owned enterprises; and eliminating the health, education and environment ministries.

Sounds great!

[teeman8r]

A far-right libertarian candidate won...

don’t they have editors at the NYT?

[ZULU]

They will screw him over in the general. Votes don’t count for marxists

[liberalh8ter]

I hope Melei wins! Argentine politics are extremely corrupted but if by some miracle he turns that around, Argentina would be a seriously great place to live.

[Sirius Lee]

I hope they bring back helicopter tourism.

[Worldtraveler once upon a time]

-- "Socialism is impossible with hard money as your currency. America's chattering classes (and many on FR) think centrally-planning money is possible for politicians and bureaucrats, and that our smart, Ivy-educated central-planners at the Federal Reserve are perfectly capable of doing so."

Thanks for the apt comment. Indeed, it is in your words "that simple."

[L,TOWM]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Always had a good sense of humor, Jim.

[Vigilanteman]

The Pinochet dictatorship in Chile was, at worst, a benevolent dictatorship. By privatizing their social security system, they did a twofer:

1. Eliminated a major source of government borrowing to be backed by IOUs
   
2. Opened up a huge pool of private lending which turned Chile from a third world country to a first world country in a single generation.

   If Argentina follows through with the Pinochet/Chicago Boy example they just might turn themselves into one of the richest countries in the world again. I believe they were #7 in 1901.

[Vigilanteman]

Ha! I see what you did there!

Pinochet's only problem with helicopter tourism is that only about 1800 far leftists disappeared.

[Jim Noble]

He wins. Then what? To get it to last he’ll need to go full Pinochet

Correct. One problem.

I do not believe that libertarians favor pushing people out of helicopters.

[Jim Noble]

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Not a joke.

Reagan's idiotic fascination with libertarianism set the table for the bolshevik revolution we are burdened with now.

[Vaduz]

Yes Argentina is about to kick out socialism they had all these years repeated fail makes one hungry.

[popdonnelly]

Good for Mr. Milei.

[cgbg]

Good post.

Once government regulates an industry the industry responds over time by capturing the regulators.

There are a variety of ways this happens from primitive bribery to revolving doors between the regulator and the industry to capture of major political parties.

In that way regulation forces industry to consolidate to gain the financial power to implement the regulatory capture.

Almost everyone commenting on this issue has a conflict of interest and cannot be trusted.

Government officials, industry, lobbyists all want to keep their gravy train going.

[Texas resident]

NYT calls him a far right person.

Guess he is someone who is not a marxist.