Argentina’s president makes a plea for capitalism in Davos
Published: Wednesday, Jan 17th 2024, 17:20
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At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Argentina's ultra-liberal President Javier Milei promoted a free market economy and capitalism. "Capitalism is the only system that can end poverty in the world," said the head of state in the Swiss ski resort on Wednesday. "Socialism always leads to economic, social and cultural decline."
The economist Milei took office in mid-December and immediately introduced a series of reforms. Among other things, he wants to liberalize labour and tenancy law, privatize state-owned companies and abolish the central bank. However, as he does not have his own majority in parliament, the reforms are currently stuck in Congress.
In his speech in Davos, Milei also accused the governments of many western industrialized countries of intervening too heavily in the market and restricting the freedom of citizens. Regulations and social systems would ultimately lead to more injustice. "The state is not the solution, the state is the problem," he said, concluding with his slogan from the election campaign: "Long live freedom, damn it."
Argentina is in the midst of a severe economic crisis. The inflation rate is over 200 percent and around 40 percent of people in the once rich country live below the poverty line. South America's second-largest economy is suffering from a bloated state apparatus, low industrial productivity and a large shadow economy that deprives the state of many tax revenues. The national currency, the peso, continues to lose value against the US dollar and the mountain of debt is constantly growing.
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