Javier Milei’s medicine is working

The economy would crash, the markets would be in open revolt, and he would swiftly be evicted from office by the IMF, and replaced by some ‘grown-ups’. When Argentina elected its chainsaw-wielding, libertarian President Javier Milei a year ago, the economic and political establishment confidently predicted he would only last a few weeks. And yet, not only has Milei managed to stay in power, all the evidence suggests that he is turning Argentina around. The real question now is this? Will a stagnant and moribund Europe pay attention?

With inflation running at 25 per cent a month, with the largest IMF loan in history to pay back, and with the currency in freefall, the Argentina that Milei took over had become synonymous with mismanagement and decline. From abolishing subsidies, to scrapping rent controls overnight, to abolishing whole ministries, Milei embarked on a dramatic programme of shock therapy designed to dismantle state control.