Argentina’s has been yet another challenge to economic orthodoxies, as his experiment in near–pure free markets has continued to drive a rebound in the country’s economy, even as many world-renowned economists more in favor of state intervention had predicted dire consequences for his approach.
In the fall of 2023, over 100 economists from across the world, including Thomas Piketty, a French economist and the author of "Capital in the Twenty-First Century," wrote a letter warning Milei of his "radical" approach to economics. They wrote that his economic vision of "minimal government intervention...but actually relies heavily on state policies."
"The economic vision underlying these [Milei’s] proposals supposedly advocates minimal government intervention in the market, but actually relies heavily on state policies to protect those who are already economically powerful," the economists wrote in their letter. "Reductions in tax rates and public spending push many essential goods and services away from public provision to private commercial providers, which enriches them but reduces the access of ordinary citizens, especially the poor."
Their argument is weak on its own: they claim that the absence of state regulation on private business effectively amounts to granting more power to the private market, while simultaneously shifting programs that assist the poor away from those very policies. However, as all people who study and have faith in the free market know, letting the market flourish unencumbered typically results in better conditions for even the poorest people.
But that’s not all. Milei has effectively pulled his country back from a catastrophic slide into socialist collapse, instead turning it into a beacon for the rest of the world. He has demonstrated that free markets, not socialism, not “democratic" socialism, and not command economies, are the solution to the world's economic woes.
Milei has gutted regulation including rent-control which led to a 212 percent surge in rental listings and a 27 percent drop in real rents in Buenos Aires within months. He cut taxes and deregulated imports encouraging companies to hire which put more money in the pockets of even the poorest Argentinians and slashed prices on everyday goods. He halted the government from printing money, and even managed to provide Argentina with its first budget surplus in over a decade within a year of taking office. His administration is still dealing with challenges, but the overall effect has nothing but a resoundig rallying cry for free marketeers.
From Fox Business:
Argentina’s economic rebirth was also aided by the U.S. Treasury's $20 billion currency swap. The swaps helped stabilize Argentina's currency because of its credibility. And in turn, that credibility attracted foreign investors and more competition. In the last quarter of 2025, capital inflows hit an all-time high of $18.8 billion.
Rather than a sort of bailout, the $20 billion spent on Argentina provided its economy with credibility, driving foreign investment into a country that is quickly becoming a key U.S. ally.
Under Milei, capital markets were opened to international markets, and exports surged. Notably, Argentina’s oil production has grown to 882,200 barrels per day this year, up 32% from 667,000 barrels per day when Milei took office in December 2023. Likewise, natural gas production increased to 48,748 million cubic meters in 2025, up 11% from 43,985 million cubic meters in 2023, according to the Argentina Energy Information website.
"The bottom line of Milei’s economic policies is that they work and can benefit from a similar playbook and so make the world richer and better. Inflation collapsed, and that single change has fed into other things in a positive way," Pete Earle, senior director of research at the American Institute for Economic Research, said. "That’s one of the greatest gifts to the rest of the world, and they can see that it works; It’s all grossly positive."
Milei is yet another slap in the face to experts who warn of “late-stage capitalism” and call for governments to begin socializing the economy. He is proof to the rest of the globe that free markets remain the best way to advance not only human flourishing, but human freedom.
Too often, the economic issues people complain about today are not the result of capitalism, but of government intervention in markets, and when those interventions fail, the entire system is blamed as inherently capitalist. True free markets, in the tradition of Milton Friedman and Javier Milei, remain the most effective path to prosperity, accountability, and long-term stability.