Regular readers will know that I am a West Indian black, and so I try to follow what’s happening in Latin America and South America. Everyone knows that Venezuela elected socialists and they are in a death spiral, but Argentina wasn’t far behind. Argentina’s been electing leftist after leftist, and their economy kept going down. Then they did the unexpected. They elected an economist.

First, let’s find out about him, and the recent election:

Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist who has served as President of Argentina since December 2023. Milei has taught university courses in macroeconomics, economic growth, microeconomics, and mathematics for economists. He is an author on economics and politics, and also hosted radio programs on the subject.

Milei is known for his flamboyant personality, distinctive personal style, and strong media presence. He has been described politically as a right-wing populist and right-wing libertarian, and supports laissez-faire economics, aligning specifically with minarchist and anarcho-capitalist principles. Milei has proposed a comprehensive overhaul of the country’s fiscal and structural policies.

I have my disagreements with libertarians. Usually, they are terrible on foreign policy and social issues – although Milei is pretty moderate on both of those. But if there’s one thing that libertarians know well, it’s economics.

When Milei took over, Argentina was ranked #27 out of 32 countries in the Americas region on the Index of Economic Freedom. They’re just above socialist disaster zones like Venezula, Cuba and Haiti. As soon as Milei got into office, he took a wrecking ball to the big government socialism of the previous leftist regimes. And now the results are starting to roll in.

This is from far-left Barron’s:

The Argentine government in January saw its first monthly budget surplus in nearly 12 years, as new President Javier Milei continues to push for strong spending cuts, the Economy Ministry announced.

January was the first full month in office for Milei, a far-right libertarian who took office in December, and it ended with a positive balance for public-sector finances of $589 million at the official exchange rate, the government said late Friday.

Now, if you are a Thomas Sowell fan like I am, then you will be able to recognize some of these economic polices that Milei has adopted:

• sharp cuts in government spending
• reduction of public debt
• switch economy to a stable currency (U.S. dollar)
• remove price controls (price controls means government sets the prices, e.g. – setting and raising the minimum wage)
• raising interest rates (a way to curb inflation)
• shutting down useless government departments
• privatize public companies (e.g. – USPS, AMTRAK)
• cutting subsidies to economic sectors
• eliminate rent control (a form of price control)
• open-sky policy (deregulate commercial air industry)
• ending import restrictions
• de-regulate satellite services
• lower the fiscal deficit

Conservatives love these economic policies. You can see economic policies like these in states where free market capitalists dominate, like Tennessee and Florida. Leftists hate these economic policies. You don’t see these policies in states where leftists dominate, like New York and California. These are the policies that communists hate.

I suggest that we keep watching countries in Latin America and South America that adopt free market principles, and then share those articles with other Americans, so they can learn what works and what doesn’t work. We can’t keep talking about follow your heart and don’t judge forever. We are running out of “other people’s money” to pay for this feelings-based nonsense. Already the next generation of Americans will be inheriting much more debt than you or I were born with. We have to vote smarter – vote for leaders who have a proven record of doing the things that Milei is doing.