Argentina’s President Flies Coach To Davos, Roasts So-Called World Elites
When Argentina’s new President Javiar Milei flew to Davos on Lufthansa, I shared the photo of him in the airline’s business class cabin that I first saw on social media. I assumed he flew business class – not private, or first class. That seemed reasonable and importantly symbolic. It turns out that he flew coach.
You can think whatever you want about Milei, but taking Lufthansa flight to Davos while so many „ESG focused“ officials and executives come with private jets is exactly the right signal to send. pic.twitter.com/VtOWcIGF33
— Michael A. Arouet (@MichaelAArouet) January 16, 2024
Here he is in the coach cabin on the flight out of his country. The economist-turned-President of the beleaguered country sat with his fellow citizens in the back of the bus and connected.
Argentinian President Javier Milei flew to Zurich for Davos on a commercial Lufthansa flight. His fellow passengers seemed to be big fans. pic.twitter.com/I6D5CEW00n
— Andrew Lawton (@AndrewLawton) January 17, 2024
When Milei arrived at the World Economic Forum he had a big stage. And he unleashed on that crowd for its self-congratulations while their prescriptions lead to poverty for the world.
The West is in danger, it is in danger because those who are supposed to defend Western values find themselves co-opted by a worldview that—inexorably—leads to socialism, consequently to poverty.
Milei’s 2024 Davos talk, directly translated to English by AI (by heygen), in his own accent. Better than the dubbed version imo. pic.twitter.com/8OAGELuqxl
— Aaron Slodov (@aphysicist) January 18, 2024
Argentina became a kleptocracy, where those in power directed resources to favored constituencies while 40% of the country suffered in poverty and the nation faces 200% inflation. They are the IMF’s largest debtor.
He offers,
Free market capitalism is not only a possible system to end world poverty, but also the only morally desirable system to achieve it. If we consider the history of economic progress, we can see how from year zero to 1800 the world’s per capita GDP remained practically constant..if one looks at a chart of the evolution of economic growth throughout human history..a hockey stick…exponentially shoots up from the 19th century.
He notes that 90% of the world’s population has been lifted out of extreme poverty by capitalism. “Far from being the cause of our problems, free market capitalism as an economic system is the only tool we have to end hunger, poverty…” and notes that since it’s superior, it is criticized ethically but social justice “is unfair and doesn’t contribute to general well-being.” The economy is not a “cake” that can be distributed in a different way, but the cake is not given – it must be created. Milei explains the economy as a Kirznerian entrepreneurial discovery process.
He offers, “Today’s world is freer, richer, more peaceful and more prosperous than every before. This is true for everyone, but particularly for those countries that are free where they respect economic freedom and individual property rights, because free countries are 12 times richer than repressed ones.”
Whether you accept his argument or not, or only in degree (I don’t personally track with his social ideas, heavily influenced by Argentine Catholicism), it was truly an extraordinary speech to stand in Davos and lay this out, blaming those in the audience effectively for keeping their own people in poverty.
I have criticized politicians for sitting in economy for the show of it, when they should have more space to work effectively. But sitting in back turns out to be a great strategy for a President that needs to be connected to the people and needs their support to overcome massive opposition in his country’s legislature and from the country’s labor unions.
Ronald Reagan said “Government isn’t the solution to the problem, government is the problem.” But he didn’t have the comprehensive worldview, and he traded growth of government overall to get a larger military, even with control of the Senate for six years. Milei ends with, “The state is not the solution. The state is the problem itself.” That and, “thank you very much and long live freedom damnit.”
Milei taught university economics for 20 years, and authored several books. He has a comprehensive worldview, and Argentines broadly seem to want to give his prescriptions a chance – certainly those that came before have failed – but it’s unclear how much he’ll succeed in implementing them over objections from the legislative branch and courts. If unimplemented, and if Argentina’s woes continue, his policies will still receive blame – and likely be maligned as discredited.