An interview with Javier Milei, Argentina’s president

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Javier Milei, Argentina’s president, spoke to The Economist on November 25th in Buenos Aires. The conversation, which was automatically translated, has been lightly edited for clarity.

We have not checked any figures cited by Mr Milei. Editor’s note: A transcript in Spanish can be found here. The Economist: I want to start with the fact that all over the world it is very difficult at the moment to reduce the size of the state. But in Argentina you are achieving it.

What is the secret of your success? Javier Milei: First is there is a philosophical framework. That is, beyond the restrictions that one may have in the short term, I still consider the state to be a violent criminal organisation that lives from a coercive source of income called taxes, which are a remnant of slavery. The larger the size of the state, the more freedom and property are curtailed.

Consequently, that is the north star. My anarcho-capitalist philosophy would imply the elimination of the state, but that is a theoretical, philosophical approach. In real life, let’s say, I am a minarchist.

So, anything I can do to remove the interference of the state, I am going to do it. Then there is the reality with which I am confronted. Argentina had a fiscal deficit of 15% of GDP.

5% was in the Treasury, 10% was in the Central Bank. And wholesale inflation was running at 54% monthly, something like 17,000% per year [annualised]. Therefore, if I did not do something very abrupt, I would end up in hyperinflation.

And that implied doing something abrupt both in the Treasury and in the Central Bank. There was no access to financing and no demand for money. We were already on the verge of a catastrophe.