The problem for democracies fixing systemic problems that they become baked into the behavior of the population and their culture... this is the thing not given enough consideration. You simply cannot drag people to a new perspective. It is a generational project at best. And that is why a communist country like China, as long as it has a country like the US to loot from, can succeed in a long-range plan... it can wait for a generation or two while sucking on the lifeblood of the successful free and creative countries.
There is a lesson in this for democracies... never let the systemic problems grow and fester. Nip them in the bud immediately. Good luck with that.
Javier Milei reminds me of Carlos Menem who did everything right and still ended up in a ditch. Argentina is doomed because no country can operate without a banking system, and no rational person would ever deposit his money in an Argentine bank even if it is a branch of UBS. If it's in pesos you know it will be inflated away and if it's in dollars you now there will be a forced conversion into pesos at an unfavorable rate. Or your bank can go bust and default on its deposits. The Argentines deposit their money in the UBS branch in Montevideo or Miami.
I was very flattered, but when I finally got the top job I was already in the hospital. And I can tell you that if you are dying you wan to be in a Swiss hospital, not the Kremlin Clinic.
I have been waiting nearly two years for Milei to make the switch to the dollar—and have been fearing that the failure to do so would doom his ambitious and absolutely necessary experiment. Thanks for explaining why this has not yet happened.
Would the author be less critical if Milei had remained true to his libertarian ideas rather than accepting necessary compromise? It seems to me that what was accomplished in the first year was extraordinary and that the country is surely somewhat better off than it was before Milei.
The problem for democracies fixing systemic problems that they become baked into the behavior of the population and their culture... this is the thing not given enough consideration. You simply cannot drag people to a new perspective. It is a generational project at best. And that is why a communist country like China, as long as it has a country like the US to loot from, can succeed in a long-range plan... it can wait for a generation or two while sucking on the lifeblood of the successful free and creative countries.
There is a lesson in this for democracies... never let the systemic problems grow and fester. Nip them in the bud immediately. Good luck with that.
Javier Milei reminds me of Carlos Menem who did everything right and still ended up in a ditch. Argentina is doomed because no country can operate without a banking system, and no rational person would ever deposit his money in an Argentine bank even if it is a branch of UBS. If it's in pesos you know it will be inflated away and if it's in dollars you now there will be a forced conversion into pesos at an unfavorable rate. Or your bank can go bust and default on its deposits. The Argentines deposit their money in the UBS branch in Montevideo or Miami.
Always a surprise to come across the wisdom of Time Magazine's 1983 Man of the Year.
I was very flattered, but when I finally got the top job I was already in the hospital. And I can tell you that if you are dying you wan to be in a Swiss hospital, not the Kremlin Clinic.
I have been waiting nearly two years for Milei to make the switch to the dollar—and have been fearing that the failure to do so would doom his ambitious and absolutely necessary experiment. Thanks for explaining why this has not yet happened.
Revolutions are easy. Governing is hard. Very hard.
Would the author be less critical if Milei had remained true to his libertarian ideas rather than accepting necessary compromise? It seems to me that what was accomplished in the first year was extraordinary and that the country is surely somewhat better off than it was before Milei.