After two months in office, Milei balances Argentina’s budget for the first time in 12 years
American Thinker
By Olivia Murray
This is certainly not a knock against Thomas Sowell (he holds a special place in my heart), and this is not to discourage anyone from reading one of his most recognized and invaluable works, Basic Economics, but it is a giant book, and for the less-informed intellectual slowpokes of the left, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to get through it
So, let’s just go with Afuera101, and use new Argentinian president Javier Milei’s budget cuts as a very simple illustration of what the first course of action should be for a political executive who wants to save an economy: slash government spending.
Milei only took office on December 10th, and in the one full month he got under his belt, he balanced Argentina’s budget, for the first time in 12 years, and gave the people a whopping $589,000,000 surplus—all this after barely more than 60 days. Yet, it makes sense; eliminate unnecessary and parasitic nonsense programs, cutt the dead weight of bureaucracy, and all of a sudden, one month later, there’s an extra $600 million in the public coffers. Crazy!
Of course, the same mainstream outlets that branded Milei a crazy person and sought to derail his campaign and prevent his election, are decrying an alleged poverty high, because while Milei slashed government spending, he also devalued the peso. (For an excellent essay by my colleague Monica Showalter on Milei’s economic vision, see here.) From Reuters, three days ago:
Poverty in Argentina hits 20-year high at 57.4%, study says
Poverty levels in Argentina hit 57.4% in January, the highest in at least 20 years, according to a report by the Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) cited by local media on Sunday.
According to the report, the devaluation of the peso currency carried out by President Javier Milei shortly after his inauguration in early December - and the price hikes caused by it - exacerbated poverty levels, which closed the year at 49.5%.
Sure, devaluation of a currency is going to hurt, but only temporarily, and that’s not Milei’s fault. Is he the one that endlessly printed out money and legalized tremendous public debt? Did he advocate for socialism? Was it he who grew the bureaucracy, and enacted entitlement program after entitlement program? Those are the things that caused the economic problems in the first place. They, as in the leftist media, absolutely loathe him because he’s showing the world how easy, and how quickly you can reverse the severe economic damage inflicted by leftist policies.
Now, I don’t have any faith that the U.S. dollar is going to be around for much longer, and since I wouldn’t claim to be an economic whiz, I don’t really have a strong opinion on dollarization, but it does seem as though betting on another fiat currency isn’t a great long-term plan—however, for the moment, while the people of Argentina sat at the precipice of disaster, it’s better than nothing.
With freedom, or deregulation and less government, comes tremendous wealth, and the people of Argentina are about to learn just how good life can get.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/02/after_two_months_in_office_milei_balances_argentinas_budgets_for_the_first_time_in_12_years.html
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