Is This Guy the New Ron Paul?

An immensely interesting phenomenon is occurring in Argentina.

A follower of Murray Rothbard and self-described Anarcho-Capitalist economist named Javier Milei has received the most votes in the country's presidential primary.

Indeed, many are saying that he is the election's frontrunner and is most likely to win.

On Wednesday, Ryan McMaken and Tho Bishop of the Mises Institute discussed Milei's rise to prominence in an episode of Radio Rothbard with Mises Research Fellow Manuel Garcia Gojon.

The trio highlighted just why Milei's rise is so interesting, starting with his platform: large tax decreases, gutting bureaucracy, liberalizing trade, and abolishing Argentina's central bank.

Second is his rhetoric and style. Milei blasts the establishment in his interviews with a populist energy that, at least superficially, rivals Donald Trump at his most entertaining, and frankly, most politically effective.

Yesterday, the former President of the Mises Institute, Jeff Deist, hosted a Twitter Space to discuss the phenomenon. The favorable views expressed in the Twitter space generally reflected those expressed in the Radio Rothbard episode.

However, at 37:41 of Deist's Twitter Space, Daniel McAdams, the Director of the Ron Paul Institute and Ron Paul's former senior policy advisor, pushed back against the narrative that Milei is the next Ron Paul.

McAdams pointed out key failings in Milei's foreign policy positions, his support for the West against Russia and China and his affinity for Israel. He also criticized Milei's support for dollarization.

Deist and McAdams both identified an age old dilemma in libertarianism: should we, as Americans, concern ourselves with exporting libertarianism? This is a key question to forming an opinion on Milei's rise given that a key tool of American Supremacy is regime change through manufactured revolution in foreign nations.

The above question's interplay with domestic populism and an "America First" foreign policy is interesting as well. If domestic populism is good for the prospects of liberty because it pushes back against the American ruling class, then is the same true for Argentinian populism if it supports the interests of the American elites? Does Milei's candidacy ultimately do that?

It sounds like we're going to find out.

At the very least, it is tentatively good for followers of Rothbard that a figure who explicitly shares our ideas is likely to become the president of Argentina.

For now, the analysis of all mentioned above is insightful and helps us form an opinion on an interesting and unexpected development.

Notes in the Margin

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