International Milei's Neoliberal "Shock Therapy" is Devastating Argentina

[blackheart]

Milei’s Austerity Is Devastating Argentina

Shock therapy is pushing more people into poverty.

foreignpolicy.com

https://archive.is/zHULq

Days after taking office, Milei devalued the Argentine peso by more than 50 percent, and already sky-high inflation rates ascended even further. Since then, the cost of gas in Argentina has roughly doubled. Food prices have risen by roughly 50 percent, according to official government data. Health care costs have increased at a similar clip. Around the two-month mark of Milei’s presidency, Argentina’s annual inflation rate topped 250 percent, surpassing that of Venezuela to become the highest in Latin America.

As the price hikes intensified, Milei slashed subsidies for services ranging from transportation to utilities, honoring his campaign pledge to take a metaphorical “chainsaw” to public spending. The move put even more pressure on Argentines’ pocketbooks.

For everyday citizens, Milei’s austerity has been devastating. Salaries and pensions have not come close to keeping up with inflation. Workers’ purchasing power fell by roughly 14 percent month-over-month at the end of 2023, a contraction not seen in decades. Demand for food at soup kitchens is surging. A study released earlier this month from the Catholic University of Argentina estimates that the country’s poverty rate surpassed 57 percent in January. According to the same group of researchers, 49.5 percent of Argentines lived in poverty in December 2023, when Milei took over. At the end of 2022, 43.1 percent were considered poor.

Sebastián Menescaldi, an economist and the director of the Buenos Aires-based EcoGo consultancy, forecasts that the most painful period of Milei’s economic shock is yet to come. Starting this month, utility price hikes will combine with back-to-school costs to wallop families’ bottom lines. (In Argentina, summer breaks run from Christmas through February.) In March and beyond, “people will feel like they are drowning,” Menescaldi said.
As average Argentines suffer, Milei’s strategy has yielded some positive macroeconomic indicators. The peso devaluation has made imports more expensive, slowing them down—and decreasing the amount of money flowing out of Argentina. As a result, the cash-strapped central bank has started replenishing some of its dwindling dollar reserves. Meanwhile, the government posted an elusive budget surplus in January. And although monthly inflation reached a crushing 20.6 percent that month, it was lower than December’s rate of 25.5 percent.

Cliffs:
-A neoliberal capitalist demon got into office in Argentina last year
-He's trying the same type of neoliberal reforms that have been attempted in other Latin American countries with devastating consequences "this time it will be different!!"
-As expected, and consistent with the results every time this sort of stuff is attempted - it is devastating the economy. Since Milei took office, the peso has dropped 50%, food prices have risen 50%, and poverty has risen from 49% to 58%

Who could have seen this coming? Well...maybe people that read history books, who know that this experiment has already been run before in Latin America. Just 100 more attempts bro, please bro, it will work eventually.

Righties, chuds & neoliberals all think that Milei is amazing because he's operating his country's national government as if its a profit-seeking private enterprise. Hey, things might be objectively worse off for the human beings in the country, but there's a government surplus! WINNING!!

 

[Rod1]

The fuck are you talking about?

"neoliberal shock therapy" yeah, Argentina wants to join the rest of the world in having a normal currency that will involve a price correction.

The thing is that there will be at least some hope at the end of any attemtp to steer the country back into normalcy, as opposed to the hell on earth that is Venezuela or Zimbabwe.

 

[CantCucktheTuck]

It’s literally not.

 

[blackheart]

The fuck are you talking about?

"neoliberal shock therapy" yeah, Argentina wants to join the rest of the world in having a normal currency that will involve a price correction.

The thing is that there will be at least some hope at the end of any attemtp to steer the country back into normalcy, as opposed to the hell on earth that is Venezuela or Zimbabwe.

"it will be different this time!!"

Hey, at least you ghouls didn't have to do a coup and install a fascist dictator to make your neoliberal wet dreams happen this time! That's an improvement I'd say!

 

[blackheart]

It’s literally not.

Yeah, food prices rising 50% and poverty increasing by 16% isn't devastating. You're not the one who has to starve or be poor, so fuck 'em right? They're not human beings. They're just numbers on a spreadsheet.

 

[Staph infection]

Yeah, food prices rising 50% and poverty increasing by 16% isn't devastating. You're not the one who has to starve or be poor, so fuck 'em right? They're not human beings. They're just numbers on a spreadsheet.

You sure you’re not talking about the US? Those sound like our numbers. The only positive is that so many Americans are so far they will be able to live off their stored fat for a long time before the vultures start circling.

 

[ferrisjso]

I've been there many times I've lost sleep over this.

Wild how this was allowed with the junta in living memory.

 

[blackheart]

I've been there many times I've lost sleep over this.

Wild how this was allowed with the junta in living memory.

It's sad to see humanity repeating the same mistakes again and again, throughout all of time. I've heard Argentina is an unbelievably beautiful place. I hope the long-term devastation can be overcome and the people learn a lesson from this. Probably not though. Fingers crossed.

 

[Chad R. Thundercock]

Maybe give it a year or two before jumping to conclusions?

I swear people are so addicted to instant gratification these days.

 

[blackheart]

Maybe give it a year or two before jumping to conclusions?

I swear people are so addicted to instant gratification these days.

But the inflation that existed on Biden's first day of office, is his fault right?

The declining economic indicators discussed in the article/OP only took effect after Milei implemented his capitalist reforms.

 

[Richmma80]

Where's our resident Argentinian posted to verify all this?

 

[Chad R. Thundercock]

But the inflation that existed on Biden's first day of office, is his fault right?

The declining economic indicators discussed in the article/OP only took effect after Milei implemented his capitalist reforms.

What the hell does Biden have to do with all of this? Are you listening to yourself?

I have never mentioned anything about Biden in regard to the inflation.

 

[blackheart]

What the hell does Biden have to do with all of this? Are you listening to yourself?

I have never mentioned anything about Biden in regard to the inflation.

Ah okay. I thought you're a member of the crowd that's been screeching about how Biden is responsible for everything since the first day he was in office. If that's not the case, disregard.

 

[nostradumbass]

But the inflation that existed on Biden's first day of office, is his fault right?

The declining economic indicators discussed in the article/OP only took effect after Milei implemented his capitalist reforms.

WTF? Inflation was 1.4% when Biden took office, and was 9.1% after a year and a half of "Bidenomics", and gas went from $2.40 to over $5/gallon in the same time.

 

[Osculater]

You sure you’re not talking about the US? Those sound like our numbers. The only positive is that so many Americans are so far they will be able to live off their stored fat for a long time before the vultures start circling.

Yeah, and if we turn into cannibals than we could just eat the fatties first

 

[ferrisjso]

Maybe give it a year or two before jumping to conclusions?

I swear people are so addicted to instant gratification these days.

He literally has announced that hes an enemy of the left. There is no confusion about his ideology. He is a self proclaimed libertarian capitalist.

Acting like theres some sort of confusion about what he is when hes screaming it from the rooftops.

 

[panamaican]

I'll be watching this with interest. This is going to be an interesting test case on austerity.

We never get to see anyone go whole hog because the front end pain is usually enough to make governments pull up short.

 

[Chad R. Thundercock]

He literally has announced that hes an enemy of the left. There is no confusion about his ideology. He is a self proclaimed libertarian capitalist.

Acting like theres some sort of confusion about what he is when hes screaming it from the rooftops.

I knew that already. But he's only been in office for like half a year now. Why is everybody already expecting a miracle from this guy? Fixing a country's economy isn't a cakewalk.

 

[Sinister]

I knew that already. But he's only been in office for like half a year now. Why is everybody already expecting a miracle from this guy? Fixing a country's economy isn't a cakewalk.

Especially when you're an idiot who claims to speak to his dead dog.

 

[Chad R. Thundercock]

Especially when you're an idiot who claims to speak to his dead dog.

I'm acutely aware of his idiosyncratic tendencies, but the man has two master degrees in economics. To say that he is ineligible for this type of job would be ridiculous.