Can Milei's Success in Argentina Be Repeated Elsewhere?

The December 2026 issue of Reason explores Argentine President Javier Milei's accomplishments and what is yet to be done.

In 1984, Milton and Rose Friedman published a short book called Tyranny of the Status Quo. President Ronald Reagan had been in office for more than three years, Margaret Thatcher had been prime minister for five, and the Friedmans were trying to explain a frustrating phenomenon: Politicians could win elections promising dramatic change, even arrive in office with a genuine mandate, and then discover that the existing machinery of government was unusually good at defending itself.

The Friedmans concluded that reformers had a narrow window of six to nine months to make big changes before bureaucracies adjusted, beneficiaries organized, legislators rediscovered their attachments to the old way of doing things, and the status quo reasserted itself. The obvious implication was that winning an election was not remotely the same thing as winning the day for small government and free markets. … [Subscribe to continue reading]