This article was originally published in Discourse Magazine.
Will the election of Javier Milei as Argentina’s new president finally put the country’s economy back on track?
I first met Javier Milei in Buenos Aires back in 2016 through a common friend who, like us, was part of Latin America’s free market movement. When we met one day for coffee, Milei asked me to sign for him my 2009 book “The Fatal Ignorance,” which looked at how collectivist ideologies in my country, Chile, were taking over government institutions and predicted that this would eventually lead to the destruction of the free market system there. Unfortunately, a few years later, that grim prediction became reality.
The rise of collectivism in Latin America was certainly a concern that captivated Milei then, and that concern has taken on a new significance now that Milei has been elected president of neighboring Argentina. Milei has emerged as one of the free market’s staunchest defenders in the region, and as he takes office, look for him to move quickly to ensure that Argentina’s economy doesn’t end up like Chile’s did.
