Most world leaders attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, to pontificate on global affairs. Argentine President Javier Milei delivers economics lectures instead.
Since his surprise win in December 2023, the economist-turned-president has made it his mission at Davos to make an unabashed and optimistic case for capitalism. This year was no exception. Guiding the audience through economic theories touted by economists Murray Rothbard, Thomas Sowell, Israel Kirzner and Adam Smith, Milei made the case that a capitalist system is not simply more “productive” but the “only just system” for advancing freedom.
He speaks from experience. When he entered the Casa Rosada, inflation was running at 25 percent month-on-month. The resource-rich country had fallen into abject poverty. Milei’s relentless pursuit of free market reforms is working. He turned a fiscal deficit of 15 percent of his gross domestic product into a small fiscal surplus, slowing the inflation rate to 2.8 percent, and reducing poverty levels from nearly 60 percent to around 30 percent.
The Argentine economy is estimated to have grown by 4.5 percent last year and is expected to grow another 4 percent in 2026. Milei’s party La Libertad Avanza, which means Freedom Advances, received a vote of confidence in midterm elections last year.
Most politicians, even radical ones, like to cushion their strategy with moderate language. Milei prefers to talk about the public sector as an “illness,” the “enemy” and a “criminal and violent organization.” He first grabbed global attention when he appeared on the campaign trail wielding a chainsaw. At Davos on Thursday, he claimed he’s made 13,500 reforms since taking office to make the economy more dynamic.
Milei often talks about making Argentina great again. He is a vocal U.S. ally, friendly with President Donald Trump and joined his Board of Peace for Gaza. But the MAGA comparisons stop there.
Trump is often credited with delivering hard truths to Davos attendees, but it’s Milei’s policies that are actually upending the status quo. Unlike Trump, the self-proclaimed anarcho-capitalist has been working to eradicate trade barriers, even with countries like China. “If you look at China’s weight in the world,” Milei said at Davos, “you’ll understand I have to trade with China.”
But what truly sets the Argentine president apart from other leaders is his desire to reduce his own power and control. “The most responsible thing politicians can do is to stop pestering those who are creating a better world,” he said in Switzerland. Few of his peers will agree, which makes his message all the more important.
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