American Media Swings and Misses in Their Attacks on Argentinian President Milei

These "experts" (cough, cough) do not understand economics

By Chuck Warren

Javier Milei became the president of Argentina in December 2023.

He campaigned on ending cultural nonsense, acting as a nation, and taking serious and sometimes painful economic measures to fix the country’s inflation crisis, which looked terminal.

He also promised to become a staunch friend of the United States and NATO’s democracies and sever ties with China and Russia. Having been an economics professor, he explained very well why the policies enacted at the time were hurting the economy, and what would happen if his policies were implemented. What’s not to love, right?

The great experts in the media were not impressed and predicted catastrophe.

• NPR called him a far-right populist. (Notice how the term far-left does not exist in the mainstream media!)

• The New York Times also called him far-right.

• The Economist called him a “danger to democracy” because he had promised to reform the bureaucracy and cut it down. The same propaganda they are spewing about DOGE and the Trump Administration's efforts to reduce the size of our gargantuan federal government.

• Almost a year into his administration, Foreign Affairs published an essay about how Argentina was still in crisis and Milei might not last—and if you read it, you would suspect that the author was hoping that Milei would fail. You get the gist! They all hated Milei and thought that he was crazy.

And here’s the crazy part. The biggest reason they hate Milei so much is that he is pro-life and against specific far-left LGBT policies and in favor of one set of protections for all citizens regardless of their sexual identity—which mainstream translated as him being against human rights! And keep in mind that Argentina is a Catholic society. They literally were opposing Milei for not wanting to impose Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington liberal ideas on a Catholic nation!

And look where Argentina is today.

Milei has deregulated the economy. When he got elected, the unemployment rate was 7.7%. In the last quarter, it came down to 6.9%.

When he was first elected, the monthly inflation rate was 25% and moving up. The annual inflation rate was 211% in 2023. A year later, the annual inflation rate for the month of December 2024 was estimated between 2% and 3%. It’s nearly a miracle, yet Milei has done it.

He also has been doing some common sense stuff. For example, to bring down inflation, Milei had an interesting idea: That Argentines should probably import more goods instead of making everything at home!

So he has deregulated import licensing. His idea is that if something of high quality is allowed in the United States and the European Union, it is also good enough for Argentina. What a concept!

So if someone wants to import food approved by the FDA, they should not have to get a second license from Argentina’s health ministry.

And next, he is trying to simplify the tax code and cut taxes. That’s first on his 2025 agenda.

It’s not just the economy. Rosario is the narco capital of Argentina, and the crime rate is plunging there. Its mayor says that homicide has hit a 17-year low in his city.

And Argentinians like it! For the first time in years, confidence in the government turned positive in Argentina in October.

By most measures, Milei is a stunning success story of free market economics and competent management of government. And all of those who were promising that he would end democracy in Argentina and institute a dictatorship are not eating crow now. Instead, they're keeping quiet, or they have just moved on, and a few are still complaining that Milei has not solved the poverty problem—after only a year in office!

These Biden-loving media columnists and ivory tower experts are a disgrace and should simply be ignored going forward. These are the same people that kept lecturing middle America the past four years that the economy was great and that your household was doing just fine.

But here is Javier Milei, the free market champion who in only a year rescued Argentina’s economy—despite the fact that American legacy media did everything they could to undermine him.

Note: the opinions expressed herein are those of Chuck Warren only and not his co-host Sam Stone or Breaking Battlegrounds’ staff.