Marcos Falcone: Can a Libertarian Still Win in Argentina?

Argentine libertarian writer Marcos Falcone breaks down Argentina's recent election results and the upcoming runoff.

1x 1.1x 1.25x 1.5x 2x 3x

:15 :15

Download

Marcos Falcone: Can a Libertarian Still Win in Argentina?

This is the audio version of The Reason Livestream, which takes place every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern.

Javier Milei, the self-described libertarian candidate for Argentina's presidency, surprised the world with a first-place finish in the primaries this August. But in the presidential election this past weekend, he finished second behind Argentina's current economy minister, Sergio Massa, a part of the Peronist political movement that's long governed Argentina. Neither candidate passed the threshold needed to become the next president, so they will have a head-to-head rematch on November 19.

Does Milei still have a chance against an entrenched political elite that began handing out money and free bus passes in the run-up to the election? If elected, how will Milei deliver on his promise to take a chainsaw to government, abolish the central bank, and dollarize the economy? And what can American libertarians learn from the movement Milei has built in Argentina? 

Reason's Liz Wolfe and Zach Weissmueller discussed these questions and reacted to recent interview clips of Milei with Marcos Falcone, a political scientist, project manager at Argentina's Fundación Libertad, and podcast host. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

Argentina's 2023 presidential election results

"Argentina's (Unexpected) Libertarian Moment," by Marcos Falcone

"Argentina's presidential election delivers a surprise result," writes The Economist

Support for Milei by party affiliation, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit

"A man, a plan, a chainsaw: How a power tool took center stage in Argentina's presidential race," by Daniel Politi and David Biller

"Is Javier Milei's Movement in Argentina a Cult of Personality in the Name of Liberty?" by Antonella Marty and Jose Benegas

"What's in Javier Milei's head?" by Federico Rivas Molina

Comments

[MWAocdoc]

If a libertarian were to become President of Argentina and successfully implemented free market reforms and a reduction of the welfare state there, the masses would rise up in protest shortly afterwards to protest how unfair it is for the few remaining poor people not to share in the generally increasing standard of living.

[SashaRose]

Great article, Mike. I appreciate your work, I’m now creating over $35,900 dollars each month simply by doing a simple job online! I do know You currently making a lot of greenbacks online from $28,900 dollars, its simple online operating jobs.
.
.
Just open the link—————————————>>> http://Www.SalaryOption1.Com

[Freedomax7]

See Percentage As You Earn %PAYEment finance & mutual medical finansurance for all in the free-market of Humane Investments (HI), see PAYEhome.org

[Agammamon]

Wait, is he a libertarian or a 'dangrous populist'? I'm getting whiplash from these articles, Reason.

[ObviouslyNotSpam]

Or is he just another "dangerous populist" masquerading as a "libertarian"...

[Roberta]

I like how the analysis has a considerable fraction of people voting strategically on the suspicion that politicians will wind up doing the opposite of whatever they promised.

[pireh9]

I am making money from home with facebook. i received $15000 in this month for doing easily home job. I work in my part time only 3 to 4 hours a day on facebook. Everyone can earn more cash easily from home. For more information visit below this website…….

This Website➤———–➤ https://www.dailypro7.com

[Bill Falcon]

See where the monies came from to buy votes against Milei...mostly overseas from the central banking and globalists. This is nothing new....the folks who benefit from a degenerate system are not going to sit there and watch the grift be taken away. Look at US cities which look more like Warsaw after the blitz..yet the same folks get elected time and again. In the US the educational system is ruled by the educational/academic complex with an iron fist...when more free market parents try and get elected to school boards..the usual suspects show up funding "PTA moms" and so on. In this case the global banking degenerates (Epstein is their poster boy) are not going to allow liberty in Argentina...but keep sending billions of Ukraine (Trotsky forever) and Israel... it is the 1st State after all

[Cloudbuster]

Can a Libertarian Still Win in Argentina?

I hope not, for Argentina's sake.

[IAdmitIAmCrazy]

You don’t have to be sympathetic to Milei to appreciate the over all very balanced picture of the “Milei phenomenon” Marcos Falcone paints. Latin American politics can be very confusing for outsiders (who is “left”? who is “right”?), and he does a very decent job to open people’s mind to that. I am a socialist libertarian, and hence, I do not agree with Milei. However, Milei is overestimating what he can do without a Congressional majority. He might wind up stuck in gridlock. That Massa could do a Menem is not at all out of the question. But the Menem / Cavallo dollarization of the Argentine economy ended in hyperinflation, too. Like the Marxist purists, libertarians can always insist that it wasn’t (and won’t be) done “really properly” (like in: Russia wasn’t developed enough to allow for the transition to socialist paradise, or trying to build on peasants to transform China into a socialist country was doomed to fail and a Maoist folly.) Just as Marxists have to face up to the real life failures of their models, so, too must libertarians. Why did the Menem model fail? Why would Milei fail if elected president? Libertarianism is as much an ideology (yes, socialist libertarianism is, too). Not being aware of it and not allowing for reality correcting your cherished ideas, makes you end up like Hayek being bamboozled by Augusto Pinochet – not exactly an avatar of liberty. I am aware that it is easy criticizing for me because libertarian socialism hasn’t been put to a reality test anywhere anytime yet.

[Crackers Boy]

I assume that by being a "socialist libertarian" that you mean you would give YOUR money to someone who needs it more than you do. Is that correct? If so, great. I hope you have LOTS of money. Otherwise... you'll need to explain it further.

CB

[Freedomax7]

There is anarcho-communalism consistent with libertarian principles, but not socialist libertarianism, as force does not equal non-force. If you are saying you care about poor folks who require Humane Investments and a way to pay it back differently than a tax cycle, see Percentage As You Earn %PAYEment Finance & Finansurance in the free-market of Humane Investments (HI), see PAYEhome.org for a better way to Volitional Science versus Social Science. I prefer a voliety to a society. Words matter with ideas, yours as stated more ways than one are contradictory.

[hicophukien]

Bạn không cần phải thông cảm với Milei để đánh giá cao bức tranh tổng thể rất cân bằng về “hiện tượng Milei” mà Marcos Falcone vẽ. Chính trị Mỹ Latinh có thể rất khó hiểu đối với người ngoài (ai là “trái”? ai là “phải”?), và anh ấy đã làm rất tốt việc mở mang đầu óc của mọi người về điều đó. Tôi là một người theo chủ nghĩa tự do xã hội chủ nghĩa, và do đó, tôi không đồng ý với Milei. Tuy nhiên, Milei đang đánh giá quá cao những gì mình có thể làm mà không cần đa số Quốc hội. Anh ta có thể sẽ bị mắc kẹt trong tình trạng bế tắc. Việc Massa có thể làm Menem hoàn toàn không phải là vấn đề.