Javier Milei

"Milei" redirects here. For the river, see Milei (river).

Javier Milei
Milei in 2022
National Deputy
Incumbent
Assumed office 10 December 2021
Constituency	City of Buenos Aires
Personal details
Born	Javier Gerardo Milei (1970-10-22) 22 October 1970 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Political party	Partido Libertario (since 2019)
Other political affiliations	La Libertad Avanza (since 2021) Avanza Libertad (2020–2021)
Alma mater	University of Belgrano Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social Torcuato di Tella University
Field	Growth economics
School or tradition	Austrian School
Signature

Javier Gerardo Milei (Spanish pronunciation: [xaˈβjeɾ miˈlej] ; born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician and economist. Since December 2021, Milei has held the position of National Deputy (a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies) in Buenos Aires, representing La Libertad Avanza, which he leads. Milei is also a presidential candidate in the upcoming 2023 Argentine general election, with Victoria Villarruel as his running mate. Milei achieved a significant victory in the August 2023 Argentine primary elections, emerging as the top-voted candidate in a major election upset.

Politically, Milei has been variously described as far right, ultraconservative, and right-wing libertarian. While he identifies as a minarchist or liberal-libertarian, he adheres to the philosophy of anarcho-capitalism. Regarding economic matters, he is described as an ultraliberal, aligns with the Austrian School, and contends that Argentina is a tax hell. He advocates for a swift reduction in government spending to achieve a balanced budget. He has proposed closing the Central Bank of Argentina; and the Argentine peso plunged and interest rates were raised as a result of his primaries win. He gained widespread recognition through regular television appearances where he criticized the administrations of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Mauricio Macri, and Alberto Fernández, citing what he saw as their rampant spending and a lack of fiscal adjustment as concerns.

On social issues, such as abortion, Milei expressed his moral opposition to it; he is characterized as a radical conservative. He sees abortion as a property issue and argued that abortion is morally wrong even in cases of rape. He is opposed to the law that legalized it in 2020, and proposes to hold a referendum about the Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill. Additionally, he intends to eliminate the law that makes comprehensive sex education (ESI) in schools mandatory, saying its naïve to think it will not be used for indoctrination, and he supports the education voucher system to decentralize education. He expressed skepticism towards the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines, and proposed "market mechanisms" to solve the problem of lack of organ donor.

Milei's political positions have sparked controversy and confusion. Controversial were his opposition to abortion in rape cases, his view of comprehensive sex education in schools as a form of brainwashing, skepticism towards COVID-19 vaccines, and civilian firearm ownership support. He said that organs are a person’s property to sell, and frequently uses the term Cultural Marxism. On global warming he said: "Global warming is another of the lies of socialism". Due to those controversies and his radical conservative social and economic policies, his victory in the primaries was deemed an upset, and led to his characterization as a far-right populist.

Early life

Milei was born in Palermo, Buenos Aires, on 22 October 1970. His mother Alicia was a housewife, who had Italian origins, while his father Norberto was a bus driver who later became a businessman overseeing the bus driving sector. Milei grew up in the Villa Devoto neighborhood, and attended Catholic schools and private universities. He attended the Cardenal Copello high school, and later moved to Sáenz Peña, Buenos Aires. At school, he was nicknamed El Loco ("The Madman") due to his outbursts and aggressive rhetoric that later made him famous. In late teens and early adulthood, he was a goalkeeper for Chacarita Juniors until 1989.

Milei stated that he decided to quit association football and pursue a career in economics at the age of 18 after José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's economic administration led the country to hyperinflation. About his childhood, he said that his parents had beat and verbally abused him as a child, which caused him to not speak to them for a decade; he was supported by his younger sister, Karina Milei, and his maternal grandmother. He also sang in the cover band Everest, which mostly played Rolling Stones covers.

Education and work

Milei obtained an economics degree from the private University of Belgrano (Licentiate) and received two master's degrees from the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social and the private Torcuato di Tella University. He became the chief economist at Máxima AFJP (a private pension company), a head economist at Estudio Broda (a financial advising company), and a government consultant at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. He was also a senior economist in HSBC Argentina. He served as chief economist at several national and international government public bodies.

Since 2012, Milei has led the division of Economic Studies at Fundación Acordar, a national think tank. He is also a member of the B20, the Economic Policy Group of International Chamber of Commerce (an advisor to the G20), and the World Economic Forum. He is a specialist in economic growth and has taught several economic subjects in Argentine universities and abroad. He has authored several books, including El camino del libertario, and wrote over fifty academic papers. In the past, he worked at the private company Corporación América, where he served for fifteen years as the chief economist and financial adviser to Eduardo Eurnekian.

For over twenty-one years, Milei has been a professor of macroeconomics, economics of growth, microeconomics, and mathematics for economists. Since 2016, he has been attempting to integrate concepts from the Austrian School with monetarism concepts, as he regards Ben Bernanke as the greatest president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Alongside his academic pursuits, he is considered a radio host, becoming a prominent and influential personality in the communication and media sector; a 2018 ranking by Ejes showed that he was the most interviewed economist on TV, ahead of Fausto Spotorno and Damián Di Pace, with 235 interviews and 193,347 seconds in total.

Demoliendo mitos and economist work

Milei in 2021

Milei hosts his own radio show called Demoliendo mitos ("Demolishing Myths"), featuring regular appearances by the Alberdian economist and businessman Gustavo Lazzari and personalities like the Alberdian lawyer Pablo Torres Barthe and the right-libertarian political scientist María Zaldívar. He has been described as a controversial and eccentric economist, and ultralibertarian economist. In 2021, he was accused of having plagiarized in his El Cronista and Infobae columns and works, from El camino del libertario to Pandenomics, the main authors of the Austrian School, such as Henry Hazlitt, Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard, Friedrich Hayek, and Walter Block. He dismissed those allegations, saying: "It doesn't make sense." He argued that, as they were disclosure notes, there was no need to name the authors for a practical issue. For Pandenomics, he was accused of having plagiarized the works of other academics, such as a mathematical model to study different epidemic outbreaks throughout history, among others.

As an economist, like other libertarian economists, Milei's influences include Adam Smith, Rothbard, Hayek, Milton Friedman, and Gary Becker. He frequently employs mathematical formulas and charts in his writings to illustrate his points; this approach has drawn criticism from some Austrian School economists, as the Austrian School, which is considered part of heterodox economics, considers economics a social science and generally holds skeptical views of using mathematics in economics. Argentine mainstream economists also criticized Milei's economic work and his presentention, describing his concepts as confusing, and arguing that the formulas he uses are not correct; in particular, they criticized his Central Bank of Argentina abolition and dollarization proposals. Milei dismissed the critics of dollarization, saying that they do not understand "the condition of transversality".

In March 2018, Andrés Aisian rejected Milei's dollarization proposal and his characterization of fiat currency as "counterfeiting money". Aisian argued that Milei conflated the morality of fiat currency with the morality of its original discovery, and described Milei's proposal of a return to the gold standard and metallism as "economic nonsense". In April 2023, Torcuato di Tella University economist Constantino Hevia wrote that "if you scratch it a bit, you realize that Milei knows much less economics than people ... Milei overwhelms with shouts and technical terms that he doesn't quite understand. So, by trying to make everyone ignorant and using a pseudoscientific discourse, he confuses the public and his figure as a technician or mathematical economist, as he likes to call himself, grows. The truth is that Milei is technically weak. The example of his notes is very clear." He concluded that "Milei's insufficient mathematical preparation and his huge ego lead him to say nonsense that is technically wrong."

Political career

Rise to National Deputy

Throughout his political career, Milei has been entangled in various controversies. In November 2017, he caused a stir by declaring controversially that "the main producer of Argentina's economists is a Marxist indoctrination center", in reference to the Economics School of University of Buenos Aires, leading to what he called "the ubiquitous proliferation of Keynesian brutes". In February 2017, he generated further controversy by naming Domingo Cavallo as the country's best economy minister, a choice that remains contentious due to Cavallo's unfavorable image in Argentine society.

On 26 June 2018, during a conference in San José de Metán, in the Salta Province, Milei referred to journalist Teresita Frías as "a donkey" after she criticized his ideological views as totalitarian. As he refused to apologize, he was accused of exerting gender violence, and a local court mandated a psychological examination. Family and Gender judge Carmelo Paz forbade him from participating in public gatherings as a panelist or lecturer within the boundaries of the city of Metan, under the threat of legal action. In 2018, he made his acting debut in his play El consultorio de Milei, with Claudio Rico and Diego Sucalesca. In 2019, Noticias named him one of the most influential people in Argentina. In 2020, he spoke in favor of protests against the government led by Alberto Fernández.

Milei's La Libertad Avanza campaign launch for the primary elections in 2021

In 2020, Milei joined Avanza Libertad (Freedom Forward), which describes itself as "a government alliance, which brings together, convenes, and addresses men and women of all social conditions, made up of different political parties, and created to promote liberal policies that contribute to the economic, political, cultural, and social takeoff that we Argentines need to return to being the thriving country that we were at the beginning of the year 1900." Avanza Libertad was criticized for including among his candidates neo-Nazis and apologists of the last Argentine military dictatorship.

Milei's rhetoric was attractive to the under-30 voters who lived through the 1998–2002 Argentine great depression and 2001 hyperinflationary crisis as a child and into the 2020s face economic stagnation. By March 2023, opinion polls showed that 17% of Argentines would vote for him as president, and that his political coalition would become the third parliamentary force in the Argentine Congress. His supporters include those who voted for Kirchnerism but would now vote for Milei as a protest even if they may not support his economic ideas.

During his successful election campaign to become a member of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies in July 2021, Milei pledged not to support any tax increases or new taxes. He established the coalition La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Moves Forward), which secured the third place in the primary elections in Argentina with 13.66% of the vote. In the 2021 Argentine legislative election, with 17% of the votes, it confirmed the third place, and Milei's far-right coalition entered the Argentine Congress. They performed the best in Cordoba and Santa Fe, the second and third most populous districts in the country; they also performed well in Peronist strongholds in North Tucuman, Salta, La Rioja, and San Juan, and in Santa Cruz in Patagonia, which is considered the cradle of Kirchnerism.

Running under the slogan "I didn't come here to lead lambs but to awaken lions", Milei denounced what he saw as a political caste, which he described as being composed of "useless, parasitic politicians who have never worked". He said phrases like "I'm here to kick these criminals out", and was particularly supported by the youth for his ways of communication, which included the promotion of his political views on TV, radio, and YouTube. In September 2021, Milei said: "The first thing I am going to say to the shitty, silly, parasitic and useless political caste is what I am not going to do. I will never go against private property, I will never go against freedom, I will never raise a tax, I will never create new taxes." Upon assuming office as deputy, Milei fulfilled one of his campaign promises by raffling his salary to a random person each month, aiming to "return money to the citizens". He described this monthly raffle, which is open to anyone, as a way to get rid of what he considers to be dirty money, and said: "The state is a criminal organization that finances itself through taxes levied on people by force. We are returning the money that the political caste stole."

In July 2023, Milei faced an investigation into alleged selling of candidacies within La Libertad Avanza. The businessman Juan Carlos Blumberg said that La Libertad Avanza "made politics a business", which prompted Milei to respond and deny that there were paid candidates. Milei was also accused of having been funded and supported by Peronism. Juan Luis González criticized that Milei "allowed himself to be financed by provincial governments, received technical, logistical, and monetary aid from the Peronism that he claims to fight, threatened all those who wanted to open their mouths, as happened to one of his own legislators who had to live for half a year with police custody, and that, mounted on the illusion of a 'new politics' that gave hope to young people who had lost hope, hides the oldest way of making money and business in Argentina. Wealthiest people in the country came up with the idea of ​​creating and financing, to take care of their own interests, a media phenomenon that was later called Milei." Milei dismissed this investigation as a political operation to discredit him. During his political career, he has also been accused of having a violent attitude towards journalists and critics, and of misogynistic behavior, including towards women in journalism.

2023 presidential campaign

A member of the Libertarian Party, Milei is a candidate for president of Argentina as part of La Libertad Avanza. His running mate is Victoria Villarruel. As inflation rose above 100% in May 2023, his position in the polls increased. In an August 2023 interview with Alejandro Fantino, he suggested holding a referendum to repeal the law (Voluntary Interruption of Pregnancy Bill) that legalized abortion in Argentina, saying: "Just because something is legal, it does not mean that it is legitimate. I am against it (the Voluntary and Legal Interruption of Pregnancy Bill) because it is against the right to life. ... At least I would hold a referendum. And, if the result is in my favor, the law is eliminated. But let the Argentines choose. Let's see if the Argentines believe in the murder of a defenseless human in the womb of the mother." Gun laws in Argentina are restrictive. According to his party's electoral platform, Milei proposes the "deregulation of the legal market" for weapons and "the protection of its legitimate and responsible use by the citizens".

Milei's rise has been described within the context of the last two presidencies. Analysts described a win for Milei as a more dramatic version of the pro-business government of former president Mauricio Macri, who tried to introduce market reforms after taking office in 2015 only to clash to the political opposition and plunge headlong into a financial crisis that ended with the country asking the International Monetary Fund for another rescue package. Alberto Fernández, Macri's successor, has struggled to fix the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina and a severe shortage of foreign currency, leaving the country vulnerable to another debt default. Fernández is so unpopular that he decided not to run for re-election. In August 2023, Milei stated that he would not end social programs, which support millions of people in a country where almost 40% of the population is impoverished; he described them as "victims, not victimizers". He added that ending this type of social assistance would take up to fifteen years.

2023 primary elections

In the August 2023 primary elections, which were held two months before the upcoming 2023 Argentine general election, Milei emerged as the leading presidential candidate, with 30% of the votes, ahead of the traditional Peronism–Kircherism and Macrism that dominated the country in the 2010s. Opinion polling for the 2023 Argentine general election had predicted that the economy minister Sergio Massa of the Union for the Homeland would secure the most votes as a candidate in the primaries, with Juntos por el Cambio expected to be the most voted coalition overall; Milei was polled at about 20% but achieved 30%, and was seen as an outsider candidate. In June 2023, the markets welcomed Massa's presidential candidacy, as it polarized the election between the ruling party and Juntos por el Cambio, reducing what was called the "Milei factor". Javier Timerman, Managing Partner of Adcap Grupo Financiero, said on CCN Radio that "Javier Milei has always been a source of fear and uncertainty for foreign investors, both financial and investor in the real economy."

Milei's win marked the first time a far-right candidate won the primary elections since the 1916 Argentine general election. Initially, for the first round of the general election in October 2023, with the possibility of a run-off election in November 2023, Peronists saw Milei as a possible ally who would divide the votes of the centre-right coalition. During the night of celebration, Milei danced rock and roll with his family, choosing the song "Se viene", one of Argentine rock's greatest hits that at the end of the 1990s became a challenge to the neoliberal government of Carlos Menem and was a premonition of the Corralito crisis in 2001; the song's chorus says: "The explosion is coming." Milei looks to Menem as an example and the band, Bersuit Vergarabat, had forbidden him to use the song. Despite this, the hall of celebrations sang it without fear of contradictions.

For political analyst Facundo Cruz of the Research Center for Democratic Quality, this was a result of the protest vote. He said that the vote for Milei "channeled the citizen discontent of the last two governments, past and present". According to Clarín, "Milei's victory speaks to us above all of the extent of despondency and anger that hovers in Argentine society, which wanted to express this profound unease with the primary vote." According to Página12, he "arises from a bad economic situation, from the critical situations experienced during the months of isolation due to the pandemic, added to the exasperating and permanent blow of inflation." Página12 sees a similarity with the scenarios before the military coups in Argentina and other Latin American countries, saying that the military coups "have dismantled the democratic system, but they have never solved anything and, in exchange rate, have worsened the lives of Argentines: poverty, debts, unemployment and so on. Milei looks like a child of that story. He embodies the same illusions of a sector of society that promoted dictatorships and then regretted it."

2023 general election

Due to his radical economic policies, the Argentine peso plunged as a result of his primaries win, while the official dollar exchange rate rose by 20%, and the Central Bank of Argentina raised interest rates. As a result of his strong performance in the primaries, Milei is considered the frontrunner for the general election. Analysts say that this could lead to higher inflationary and foreign exchange pressures. According to the Eurasia Group analyst and Latin American researcher Luciano Sigalov, if Milei wins the presidency, he would face governability issues due to a lack of parliamentary majority to pass the radical pro-market reforms he advocates, and may result in street resistance and protest from Peronist and social movements. Sigalov said: "The likely prospect of a Milei victory and the risks from his radical policy program will generate more pressures on inflation and exchange rates. The worsening economic conditions will benefit Milei as he blames [rival] politicians for the spiraling crisis."

According to JPMorgan, Milei's win is not certain and predicts a chaotic outcome, citing the historically low turnout of the primaries and that a higher-than-average turnout for the general election would benefit the traditional parties of Massa's Union for the Homeland and Patricia Bullrich's Juntos por el Cambio. Jared Lou, a portfolio manager at William Blair Investment Management, commented: "One factor that may help Milei in the presidential elections is that he's an outsider and voters are frustrated." At the same time, Lou stated that Milei's views on promoting gun ownership, anti-abortion policies, and a dollarized economy could put off voters, as he says most Argentinians oppose those policies. He added: "Many of the policies he has campaigned on are viewed as fairly radical by the electorate."

Political positions

Milei during a 2019 interview on Todo Noticias

Milei identifies with anarcho-capitalism and paleolibertarianism, while being for practical reasons a minarchist; he describes himself as a liberal-libertarian. Political commentators categorize his ideological views as a blend of populist, right-wing libertarian, and conservative strands, along with ultraliberal economics, right-wing populist, ultraconservative, and far-right politics, and representing anti-politics. He has also been described as a libertarian populist, and labelled far right or radical right by international news agencies like Al Jazeera, the BBC, and Reuters, newspapers including The Economist, The Daily Telegraph, the Financial Times, Le Monde, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, news magazines like Time, and several Argentine and Spanish-language publications including El Diario, elDiario.es, El Mundo, El País, Perfil, Télam, and Tiempo Argentino.

Milei supports former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro and former United States president Donald Trump, especially their anti-communism and criticism of socialism, and he has been compared to them for sharing an anti-leftist and anti-social justice platform. When asked about Trump and Bolsonaro, he said: "I have a clear agenda, which goes against everything that is socialism or communism. Everyone who is against socialism or communism is on the side I am on. This is my guiding principle, then we can have all the differences you want. In that group we have liberals, libertarians, people from the center, conservatives, from the center-right, but the limit is that no one crosses the limit of social democracy and all expressions further to the left. My alignment with Trump and Bolsonaro is almost natural."

During his 2023 presidential campaign and August 2023 primaries win, the international press who reported on Milei used a range of labels to describe him. Due to his primaries upset win, he was described as a far-right popoulist or outsider. Reuters reported that Milei is a "radical right-wing candidate", Time called him a populist, El País described him as an "ultra-right libertarian and 'anarcho-capitalist' who represents angry Argentina", CNN characterized him as an outsider, The Economist headlined that "Argentina could get its first libertarian president", CBC News described him as a "libertarian firebrand", and the BBC described him as a "Trump admirer". He has also been compared to American conservative Tucker Carlson, and to Marine Le Pen of France's National Rally. He maintains close ties with the Spanish far-right party Vox, from which he borrowed the anti-caste rhetoric, as well as the former far-right conservative Chilean presidential candidate José Antonio Kast. Milei said: "People realize that we're getting poorer and that the only ones making progress are the politicians, the parasites."

Academic analysis

While in the words of Cristóbal Rovira, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Chile, "Milei has a libertarian component that makes him a rare creature compared to the ultra-right of Latin America", he is placed within the context of the global far right. He said: "There is a fairly global wave of the extreme right. They start in Western Europe, where the emblematic case of Jean-Marie Le Pen is in France in the 1980s, they expand to Eastern Europe and today we see that they are beginning to gain territory in other places: Trump, Bolsonaro." According to Rovira, "Milei would fit into the prototype of what these ultra-rights are." He said: "At an academic level we define them by two important criteria. First, they are to the right of the mainstream right and profess much more radical ideas. In the case of Argentina, Milei is positioned to the right of Macrismo. Second, they maintain an ambivalent relationship with the democratic system and sometimes profess authoritarian ideas. That differentiates them from the traditional right, which act within the rules of the democratic game." According to Rovira, "Milei's case fits very well into this double classification."

Andrés Malamud, a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, argued that Milei's speech is anarcho-capitalist because "it's limited to interests and incentives: lowering taxes, reducing state intervention, liberalizing even organ trafficking. Technically, he's also a minarchist. A doctrinaire ultraliberal would be the most understandable. About Milei's appeal, Malamud said: "The political secret is to appeal to the basic instincts, under simple banners: liberty, life and property. That's why Milei loves television sets, where he yells, insults and crushes anyone who criticizes him. His curly black hair is the icon of his campaign. On stage, he wears black leather – fire is lit at the climax of his speeches." Malamud added that "Milei is a vitalist: he's not here 'to guide lambs but to wake up lions,' as he himself says. This is where he gets his conservative values, such as nationalism and anti-abortionism." Pablo Touzón, a political scientist and director of the consulting firm Escenarios, said that "Milei is a war machine against [the political class], a brick thrown against the window of a jewellery store." Touzón added: "He combines a kind of ultraliberal orthodoxy, from [Milton] Friedman and [Friedrich] Von Hayek... he sees himself as a warrior against the state. But he combines that hyperliberal ideology and freedom with elements of the extreme-right." About his comparisons with Trump, Touzón stated that Milei represents a local version of Trumpism that does not defend protectionism. About his rise on the polls, Touzón said: "If he has so many voters, it's not because he's liberal – it's because he represents the anti-establishment, as Podemos did in Spain from the left. Here, [in Argentina], it's done from the right."

Economic views

While theoretically an anarcho-capitalist, Milei identifies in the short term as a minarchist, liberal-libertarian, or classical liberal. He explained that he is an "anarcho-capitalist, because the state is the enemy. But you live in the real world and you have to have your feet on the ground. In this context, I am a minarchist – that is, someone who believes that the state should only be in charge of security and justice." He said that the state should be concerned only with administering justice and guaranteeing security. Milei aligns with economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism, often referencing the economic policies of Carlos Menem, who served as Argentina's president from 1989 to 1999, and his economy minister Domingo Cavallo; he described them as the "best economic government in Argentine history". Additionally, he upholds the ideals of Juan Bautista Alberdi and his constitution, and defended Alberto Benegas Lynch as "the greatest hero of the ideas of freedom", and the Generation of '80. Milei envisions eventually dismantling the state and the Central Bank of Argentina, which he described as "one of the greatest thieves in the history of mankind", allowing citizens to freely select their monetary system, including the potential adoption of a dollarized economy, to combat the country's inflationry issues; he says they are made worse by the Central Bank of Argentina, which he accuses of stealing money from Argentines through inflation. About the convertibility plan of the 1990s, Milei said: "Convertibility was launched on [1 April] 1991. By January of 1993, we were the country with the lowest inflation in the world. I propose the free competition of currencies, full reform of the financial system. Thus, the most probable thing is that Argentines choose the dollar."

Milei pledged to a sharp cut in government spending; he proposes a sharp economic shock to reduce inflation and the Argentine economy's issues, and to pay the country's debt. He said: "Central banks are divided in four categories: the bad ones, like the Federal Reserve, the very bad ones, like the ones in Latin America, the horribly bad ones, and the Central Bank of Argentina." Milei supports privatizing state-owned enterprises, including shale driller YPF, public services like health care and education, and roads, and pledged to scrap soy taxes and ditch electric-vehicle battery bid as part of his deregulation program. He also articulated his intention to either shut down, privatize, or redefine the National Scientific and Technical Research Council, while shutting down or merging most governmental ministries, including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Social Development, and the Ministry of Health, and reduce them from 18 to 8. A video of him tearing cards from a wallboard with the names of ministries that he wants to abolish and tossing them into the air went viral. In the video, he says: "The state is not the solution. It is the problem." He is opposed to trade unions, and described the Article 14 of the Argentine Constitution, which guarantees labor rights, pensions, and the entire social security system, as the country's cancer; he pledged to repeal it as president.

Milei promises to balance the budget. Argentina has failed to meet targets on cutting its fiscal deficit and building up foreign reserves under its $44 billion arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which approved a $7.5 billion loan disbursement. In a July 2023 interview with the Financial Times about this, Milei said that if is elected president of Argentina, he would "overshoot all the targets" in the IMF deal, calling the required spending cuts as small compared with what he says the country needs. About the IMF, which provided Argentina with twenty-two bailouts, Milei said that it "doesn't care" about what he described as the country's deep-rooted challenges. He said: "The IMF are just a bunch of bureaucrats who know that a bank's business is to charge interest. If I'm elected it will be to solve Argentina's problems." According to his adviser Darío Epstein, Milei pledges to balance the budget within three months. Epstein said: "The first thing we have to do is to lower the fiscal deficit by 5 percentage points, which is not at all easy. As Argentina is in a very critical situation, with 40 to 45 per cent poverty, what we can't do is to fire people from the public sector or lower social spending. That is very important."

Capitalism, communism, and socialism

Milei promotes capitalism, and strongly opposes communism and socialism. In a TEDx presentation that went viral on social media in February 2019, Milei presented what he described as "a love story" about capitalism, arguing how capitalism and the free market have lifted people out of poverty. He then cited what he describes as myths regarding capitalism, rejecting the idea that the Nordic model is socialist, and saying that the Nordic countries are "more pro-market than people think". He labelled the problem of social inequality as a "lying hoax", and said that "social justice is unfair". He concluded that this was a debate about values, where socialism embodies envy, resentment, and coercion, while capitalism or liberalism stands for the unrestricted respect for the life project of fellow individuals. More than Karl Marx, Milei's greatest enemy is John Maynard Keynes, whom he accuses of being the main culprit for all of Argentina's ills.

Many of the people drawn in by Milei are right-wingers who are attracted to his anti-leftist and opposition to government policies, including legalizing abortion and creating a quota for trans people in government jobs. In an interview in October 2020, Milei said: "I hate communists, shitty left-wingers, because they hate life." He called it a "filthy system, which fails everywhere. In every place where it was applied, it generated misery and hunger." He further stated that there are only two systems, liberalism or communism, as he believes that any intermediate solution would result in a drift towards communism. In 2021, he signed a letter sponsored by Vox that railed against "the advance of communism" in the Spanish-speaking world, and was endorsed by Eduardo Bolsonaro and José Antonio Kast. In October 2021, he reiterated his anti-leftist views, saying: "I will ally with all those who believe that the left is the enemy."

Libertarianism

In 2021, Milei defined himself thusly: "I am a libertarian liberal. Philosophically, I am a market anarchist." His libertarianism is distinct from classical libertarianism or left-libertarianism, which originated from the French libertaire, or libertario in Spanish, which is used as a synonym for anarchism, libertarian socialism, and other left-wing philosophies, and is closer to modern libertarianism in the United States, or right-libertarianism, although those libertarians reject the left–right political spectrum. According to David Boaz, former vice president of the Cato Institute, modern libertarianism is a philosophical current within politics that places "individual freedom as the supreme political value". He wrote: "A libertarian admits that people can justifiably be forced to do certain things, the most obvious being refraining from infringing on the freedom of others. However, a libertarian considers it unacceptable that anyone can be forced to serve others, even if it is for their own good." Because those libertarians promotes the free market, defends private property, and support a small and limited state, they have been placed on the right-wing of the political spectrum. Boaz said that those libertarians "have attempted to define the proper scope of individual liberty in terms of the notion of personal ownership, or self-ownership, which implies that each individual is entitled to exclusive control of his choices, actions, and body."

Milei's stances on social issues, such as abortion, are the main reason why political commentators and other libertarians do not consider him truly a libertarian. Among libertarians, some described him as a libertarian for his overall economic libertarian or neoliberal stances, and rejected comparisons to Trump and Bolsonaro, while others cited the issue of abortion as a reason not to call Milei a libertarian. Milei said: "I am against abortion because I believe in the life project of others. The woman can choose about her body, but what she has inside her womb is not her body, it is another individual." In response, Carmen Beatriz Fernández, an expert in political communication, stated that Milei is not libertarian but a "neopopulist or right-wing authoritarian". Guillermo Tell Aveledo, a political scientist and dean of the Faculty of Legal and Political Studies of the Metropolitan University of Caracas, said: "His criticisms on issues such as budgets and specific policies, both in his time as a commentator on television programs and now as a congressman, have been directed at the size and action of the state, so he fits the profile of a libertarian." At the same time, he came to agree that Milei's conservative positions and other contradictions prevented him from being considered a "genuine libertarian". As a result, he argued that "paleolibertarian (conservative libertarian)" or "anarcho-capitalist", namely someone who believes in a form of stateless free-market capitalism, or that society can be organized and function only with the market without the need for the state, are more appropriate labels to describe Milei's politics.

The main sources of this modern type of libertarianism are Montesquieu, John Locke, Adam Smith, and the Founding Fathers of the United States, among other figures the Age of Enlightenment and part of what those libertarians consider to be classical liberalism. In addition to those historical figures questioning the role of monarchs and clergy, this current also sought to limit the powers of democratic and representative governments. About the state, which he considers an enemy, Milei promised a total reform, and stated: "The state is the greatest enemy of wealth. If the increase in its size is financed with taxes, the real wage falls. If it is with debt, they are future taxes. And if that debt is external, it raises the equilibrium exchange rate with respect to wages and makes food more expensive, creating more poor people." About taxes and liberalism, he said: "I consider the state as an enemy; taxes are a hindrance to slavery. Liberalism was created to free people from the oppression of monarchs; in this case, it would be the state." Due to his economic views, he has been described as an ultraliberal. Among his many phrases are "The state is the problem, not the solution", or that the state is "the source of Argentina's decline". He also defined taxes as "a hindrance of slavery", affirmed that only liberalism would be able to free Argentines from what he describes as the oppression of the state, and compared this to the end of absolutism in European history, and reduced the rights basic to the three of "Life, liberty, and property". After winning the 2023 primaries, Milei announced what he called a "new liberal revolution" and the end of the political elites model he describes as a "model based on that atrocity that says that where there is a need, a right is born, but it is forgotten that someone has to pay for that right."

Social issues

Milei opposes abortion rights, and has publicly affirmed a staunch anti-abortion stance, saying that abortion violates the non-aggression principle; he sees it as a property conflict or issue of ownership, and drew comparisons between abortion and theft. When questioned in September 2021 by a O Globo journalist about an abortion case involving the rape of a 10-year-old girl, Milei asserted that an abortion in such circumstances would still constitute murder. In October 2021, he said: "Why is one crime compensated with another crime?" He stated his support for abortion only when the mother's life is at risk. If he is elected president, he proposes to hold a referendum about the law that legalized abortion in 2020, and in such a case he said that he would support its repeal. Due to his views about abortion, alongside a crack down on crime and prohibition of the use of inclusive language, he has been characterized as socially conservative.

Milei spoke in favor of a legal organ trade, seeing as a way to reduce waiting lists for organ transplants, and said that there could be market mechanisms to encourage organ donors. In a June 2022 interview, when asked about his stance on the sale of children, Milei initially said that "it depends". In the same interview, he said: "If I had a child, I wouldn't sell them, but that's not the current topic of discussion in Argentine society. Maybe it will be in 200 years, I don't know." Due to the ensuing controversy, he later clarified his position and expressed his opposition to it. He explained his opposition in clearer terms, while separating it from the organ trade legalization as "a different discussion", stating: "Obviously, I do not agree with the sale of children."

On transgender rights, Milei said that he "does not care" about gender identification "as long as you do not make me pay the bill", in reference to public funding for gender-affirming care, and compared it with identifying as a cougar. Milei said that he is indifferent to same-sex marriage; he sees marriage as a contract and is opposed to it as an institution. On homosexuality more generally, he stated: "If you decide to be homosexual, how does that affect my life? In nothing. My liberty? In nothing. My property? In nothing. Therefore, I have nothing to say." He said that the way in which sexuality is lived "is a personal choice", and added: "I don't agree at all that homosexuality is a disease." Milei supports drug legalization within the context of what he calls a free society but once warned: "If you want to commit suicide, I don't have any problem. Drugging is committing suicide in rates. If you want to get high, do whatever you want, but don't ask me to pay the bill. Because if you are not going to take charge of your decisions... well, that seems unfair to me."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Milei expressed scepticism about COVID-19 vaccines. On global warming he said "It is another of the lies of socialism." Milei promotes the far-right Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory. He uses Cultural Marxism as a label to accuse left-wing politics and progressives of enforcing political correctness. This includes usage of Cultural Marxism in reference to gender ideology, feminism, LGBT movements, minority rights, and public education and comprehensive sex education (ESI) in schools, which he has linked to brainwashing; he intends to eliminate the law that makes ESI in schools mandatory, saying its naïve to think it will not be used for "indoctrination" and he wants to implement an education voucher system to decentralize education. Additionally, Milei linked Cultural Marxism to the Ministry of Women, Genders, and Diversity, and expressed his intent to close that ministry if he is elected president.

Immigration

Argentina is one of the few countries, whose constitution establishes the promotion of immigration as one of the duties of the state; together with the United States, Argentina was that had more immigrants between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. On immigration issues, Milei's 2023 presidential platform includes restrictions. Milei stated that he would prohibit the entry into the country of migrants with a criminal record and said that he want to expel those who commit crimes.

Argentine politics

Milei praised some measures of the first government of Carlos Menem, whom he considers the "best president of all history", and his economy minister Domingo Cavallo. In addition to that, he honored Juan Bautista Alberdi, and the Argentine historic presidencies era of Bartolomé Mitre, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, and Nicolás Avellaneda. For their government efforts as part of the Conservative Republic, he also praised the Generation of '80, including Justo José de Urquiza, Julio Argentino Roca, and Carlos Pellegrini. Milei criticized the judiciary for allegedly persecuting opponents and favoring friends, and his proposed judicial reform include the appointment of a supreme court judge who is says would be a "feral defender" of the ideas of Alberdi. He questions the governments and policies applied by the Radical Civic Union, the Justicialist Party, and military coups in Argentina. While Milei publicily expressed that he is not a defender of the last Argentine military dictatorship (the National Reorganization Process) and the Dirty War, he has questioned the Dirty War's 30,000 disappeared toll. In September 2022, he again questioned the toll. He asked: "Where are they? Show me the list." He described the military dictatorship of Jorge Videla as the leader of "one of the darkest periods of Argentine history" but that "it was also something that was quite complicated".

Milei argues that "the only time that pure liberalism was applied was in 1860 and we were a prosperous country." He criticized the governments of Hipólito Yrigoyen, Juan Domingo Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, and Alberto Fernández. Milei characterized 1930s Argentina as a fascist regime that led to Peronism and Perón's "three-legged fascism" rather than a return to liberal policies. Despite his anti-Peronism and criticism of Peronism, some commentators cited similarities and contradictions between Milei and Peronism, and argued that he remains a representative of Peronism, where Peronism is not only an ideology but is considered a way to govern, citing examples of left-leaning Peronism (Kirchnerism) and right-wing Peronism, such as that of Menem, who privatized and engaged in neoliberal reforms. Others agreed that Milei is a populist but argued that he is using populism for liberal ends. Milei also criticized individual politicians of the Juntos por el Cambio centre-right coalition, which he was able to push to the right since 2015. Milei excluded the Juntos por el Cambio leader and former prime minister Mauricio Macri from the political caste he denounce for what he regards as their collectivist policies but criticized Juntos por el Cambio member María Eugenia Vidal, who had said that "we share the same values", as governor of the Buenos Aires Province for not keeping her campaign promises of lower taxes. Milei described Patricia Bullrich, the 2023 Juntos por el Cambio leader, as "part of the Argentine failure".

In the campaign prior to the 2021 primary elections, Milei was designated as a public employee in the 1990s by the Frente de Todos candidate Leandro Santoro, whom Milei had criticized as "a state parasite", saying: "I understand that you are 45 years old and you have been involved in politics since you were 14. Have you ever worked in the private sector in your life?" Santoro affirmed that Milei "was an employee of the National Congress in 1994 and reported for the former genocidal general Antonio Domingo Bussi, who was a national deputy." In response, Milei acknowledged having worked for Bussi through his Twitter account. In a September 2022 speech to Argentina's Chamber of Deputies, Milei criticized Macri for his proposal not to put a dollar into the Aerolíneas Argentinas, wondering why he did not do that when he was president, and questioned the government 2023 budget. He also referred to the attempted assassination of Fernández de Kirchner as "not an assassination attempt". In his speech, he stated: "The first thing I want to take out of the discussion is the [attempted] assassination issue. I understand that we are all equal before the law and that those of us who represent the people are no more. If we put that title on it, you are acknowledging that we are more. I will not accept caste terms. Whatever it was, but it's not an assassination attempt."

Foreign policy

Milei with Marc Stanley, the U.S. Ambassador to Argentina, in 2022

Milei's foreign policy proposals have been described as radical. In August 2023, he dismissed the possible participation of Argentina to BRICS, said he would freeze relations with China, and have Argentina, South America's second-biggest economy, pull out of the Mercosur trade bloc with Brazil. Additionally, he scorned socialists in Latin America and abroad. Analysts stated that a breakdown of Argentina–China relations could harm the Argentine economy. About China, Milei said: "People are not free in China, they can't do what they want and when they do it, they get killed. Would you trade with an assassin?"

Milei endorses the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by Vox that characterizes left-wing groups, such as the São Paulo Forum and the Puebla Group, as enemies of Ibero-America and accuses them of engaging in "a criminal project under the umbrella of the Cuban regime" that "seeks to destabilize liberal democracies and the state of law". He signed the document alongside other far-right politicians across the region, including Eduardo Bolsonaro from Brazil, Rafael López Aliaga from Peru, and José Antonio Kast from Chile. On foreign policy, he stated that the United States and Israel would be his primary allies if elected president. He also expressed his intention to relocate the Argentine embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

At the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Milei entered the Palace of the Argentine National Congress with a Ukrainian flag, showing his position towards the conflict. A supporter of law-and-order politics, Milei endorses the unrestricted ownership of firearms, saying that Argentina needs the forces "to have authority again". He is supportive of the heavy-handed policy undertaken by Nayib Bukele in El Salvador. While taking a prudent approach, without ruling the model outright, he stated: "In principle, we say that we have to study it and what Nahuel [Sotelo, deputy] did was go to study it [in El Salvador]. We are studying it because it was extremely successful." In August 2023, Milei said that he would consider appointing former president Mauricio Macri as Argentina's overseas ambassador if he wins the October 2023 general election.

As a proponent of non-interventionism in foreign politics, Milei criticized the Falklands War. About this, he said that a government led by him would advocate for dialogue; at the same time, he admitted that this task "is complicated". He added: "If you want [the islands] to become part of Argentina one day again, it will involve a very, very long negotiation and where Argentina will have to be able to propose something interesting ... You will have to sit down and talk to the United Kingdom and discuss this situation with those who live on the islands."

Personal life

Milei has earned the nickname of el Peluca ("The Wig") due to his eccentric hairstyle. He has consistently stated that he does not comb his hair, leading to significant press attention; only Lilia Lemoine, vice president of his party and a cosplayer, is able to style his hair. In May 2022, he stated: "I will not be apologizing for having a penis. I don't have to feel ashamed of being a man, white, blond with light blue eyes." In 2018, Milei revealed that he was previously estranged from his parents and regarded them as dead. During his 2021 political campaign, he reconciled with both his father and mother. He always had a close bond with his younger sister, Karina Milei, who managed his election campaigns.

Regarding his romantic life, Milei is not married and has no known partner as of August 2023; he indicated in an October 2017 interview with La Nación that he champions free love. On a local television program in June 2020, he disclosed his involvement in several threesomes and his role as a neotantra instructor, describing himself as a tantric sex instructor, claiming to be "capable of remaining three months without ejaculating". In August 2023, The Daily Telegraph characterized him as a "rock singer and tantric sex instructor", while The Guardian referred to him as a "former tantric sex coach". Milei has compared drug use to suicide. He said that he had smoked marijuana only once, and recalled: "I remember laughing a lot."

In July 2023, the journalist Juan Luis González released El Loco, a biography of Milei, with whom he held a number of interviews. The book sought to define the New Right in Argentina, and González said that he could not avoid discussing Milei, including his eccentric personal life, ranging from telephaty and esotericism to speaking with his dead dog to his "God-sent mission" to become Argentina's president. In the book's preface, González wrote: "With the passing of the months, the interviews, the off-the-record meetings, following invoices, stamps, and paperwork, the work went from being a field one with almost academic edges to a tragicomic thriller, halfway between Raymond Chandler's black noirs and John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces."

Religious views

While Milei identifies as Catholic, he has been critical of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis, whom on different occasions he called a "Jesuit who promotes communism", "an unpresentable and disastrous character", and "representative of the evil one on Earth"; he cites Biblical passages to criticize the state, which he describes as "an invention of the evil one", and his disdain for the state is such that he puts himself in a radical dilemma: "If I had to choose between the state and the mafia, I would choose the mafia. Because the mafia has codes, the mafia adapts, the mafia doesn't lie. And above all, the mafia competes." He also reads the Torah daily and has visited the grave of Orthodox rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Milei expressed contemplation about converting to Judaism but said that observing the Jewish Sabbath could pose challenges if he were to become president.

In a 2018 Radio El Mundo interview, Milei expressed his belief in the existence of God. He reiterated this belief in 2022 to the journalist Luis Novaresio, who retorted: "How can a guy as pragmatic as you believe in something unverifiable?" Milei responded: "That is your case. Very strong things have happened to me, which exceed any scientific explanation." According to Milei, he had conversations with God, whom he refers to as "the number 1", akin that of Moses, and that led him to enter politics and try to become president.

Dogs

Milei is the owner of five English Mastiffs, with Conan serving as the progenitor; Conan died in 2017 after suffering from spinal cancer. He considers Conan his son and has named four of Conan's six clones, including one named after the original and another named Angelito, Milton (in honor of Milton Friedman), Murray (in honor of Murray Rothbard), Robert, and Lucas (both named after Robert Lucas). To do this, he went to clinic in the United States; the clonation costed him about $50,000. He described them as four-legged children and thanked them after his 2023 primaries win.

Milei said he cloned Conan because he understands cloning as "a way of approaching eternity". He also stated that he communicates with the dogs through a mystic. For example, he commented that the new Conan provides ideas on general strategy, Robert is the one who makes him "see the future and learn from mistakes", Milton is in charge of political analysis, and Murray of the economy. When asked about this by El País journalist Martín Sivak and Nicolás Lucca of Radio Rivadavia, Milei did not deny it, and said: "What I do with my spiritual life and in my house is my business. If Conan advises me on politics, it means that he is the best consultant of humanity."

Milei said he had dialogues with the likes of Rothbard and Ayn Rand. In 2015, he cited Conan as a source of inspiration for his writing. About Conan's death in 2017, Milei said that Conan had not really died (he described it as "his physical disappearance" and continued to refer to Conan in the present tense) but had gone to sit next to God to protect him, and that it was thanks to this that he had begun to have talks with God himself. To a friend in a chat, he wrote: "I saw the resurrection of Christ three times, but I can't count it. They would say I'm crazy."

Electoral history

Legislative

Electoral history of Javier Milei

Election	Office	List		No.	District	Votes			Result	Ref.
						Total	%	P.
2021	National Deputy		La Libertad Avanza	1	City of Buenos Aires	313,808	17.04%	3rd	Elected

Radio

Year	Program	Radio
2017–present	Demoliendo mitos (Demolishing Myths)	Conexión Abierta

Books

• — (2014). Lecturas de Economía en tiempos de Kirchnerismo [Economic Readings in Times of Kirchnerism] (in Spanish). Grupo Unión. ISBN 978-987-3773-00-6.
• — (2014). Política Económica Contrarreloj [Economic Politics Against the Clock] (in Spanish). Ediciones Barbarroja. ISBN 978-987-45133-2-8.
• — (2015). El retorno al sendero de la decadencia Argentina [The Return to the Road of Argentine Decadence] (in Spanish). Grupo Unión. ISBN 978-987-3677-18-2.
• —; Giacomini, Diego (2016). Maquinita, Infleta y Devaluta [Money Printer, Inflation and Devaluation] (in Spanish). Grupo Unión. ISBN 978-987-3677-44-1.
• — (2017). Otra vez sopa: maquinita, infleta y devaluta: ensayos de economía monetaria para el caso argentino [Soup Again: Money Printer, Inflation, and Devaluation. Monetary Economy Essays for the Argentine Case] (in Spanish). ISBN 978-987-627-814-0.
• — (2018). Desenmascarando la mentira Keynesiana. Keynes, Friedman y el triunfo de la Escuela Austriaca [Unmasking the Keynesian Lie: Keynes, Friedman, and the Triumph of the Austrian School] (in Spanish). Grupo Unión. ISBN 978-84-7209-727-8.
• —; Giacomini, Diego (2019). Libertad, libertad, libertad [Liberty, Liberty, Liberty] (in Spanish). Galerna. ISBN 978-950-556-739-3.
• — (2020). Pandenomics. La economía que viene en tiempos de megarrecesión, inflación y crisis global [Pandenomics: The Coming Economy in Times of Mega Recession, Inflation, and Global Crisis] (in Spanish). Galerna. ISBN 978-950-556-779-9.
• — (2022). El camino del libertario [The Path of the Libertarian] (in Spanish). Planeta Argentina. ISBN 978-950-49-7456-7.
• — (2023). El fin de la inflación. Eliminar el Banco Central, terminar con la estafa del impuesto inflacionario y volver a ser un país en serio [The End of Inflation: Eliminate the Central Bank, End the Inflation Tax Scam, and Return to Being a Serious Country] (in Spanish). Planeta Argentina. ISBN 978-950-498-171-8.

Selected academic articles

• — (January 2004). "Real Exchange Rate Targeting. ¿Trilema monetario o control de capitales? La política fiscal" [Real Exchange Rate Targeting: Monetary Trilemma or Capital Control? Tax Policy]. Revista de Economía y Estadística (in Spanish) (2). National University of Córdoba, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Institute of Economics and Finance: 63–87.
• — (2014). "De los picapiedras a los supersónicos. Maravillas del progreso tecnológico con convergencia" [From the Flintstones to the Jetsons: Wonders of Technological Progress with Convergence]. Revista Actualidad Económica (in Spanish) (83). National University of Córdoba, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Institute of Economics and Finance: 5–18.
• —; with Diego Giacomini (2017). "Ensayos monetarios para economías Abiertas. El caso argentino" [Monetary Essays for Open Economies: The Argentine Case]. Revista Actualidad Económica (in Spanish) (91). National University of Córdoba, Faculty of Economic Sciences, Institute of Economics and Finance: 5–24.

Further reading

• Ravecca, Paulo; Schenck, Marcela; Forteza, Diego; Fonseca, Bruno (2022). "Interseccionalidad de derecha e ideología de género en América Latina". Analecta política (in Spanish). 12 (22): 1–29. doi:10.18566/apolit.v12n22.a07.

External links

 Spanish Wikiquote has quotations related to: Javier Milei

• Javier Milei's channel on YouTube