Quote:For the first time in decades, Argentina is no longer ruled by socialists. Libertarian-leaning President Javier Milei was officially sworn in on Sunday, marking a major turning point in the country's battle against hyperinflation and economic decline.

In November, Argentina reached 183 percent inflation for 2023, impoverishing around 40 percent of the country, a reality that helped sweep Milei into power. Now, he's taking action, with his first move in office being an executive order that slashes the number of government ministries from 21 to nine. Among those put on the chopping block was the ministry of "women, genders, and diversity," a move he recently telegraphed in his criticisms of "social justice."

It didn't take long for the hand-wringing to begin in the press. PBS News published an article dripping with sanctimony, claiming that Milei's ideas are "outlandish" and "radical." What makes that so ironic is that the very same article admits that Argentina is in dire straits.

South America's second largest economy is suffering 143 percent annual inflation, the currency has plunged and four in 10 Argentines are impoverished. The nation has a yawning fiscal deficit, a trade deficit of $43 billion, plus a daunting $45 billion debt to the International Monetary Fund, with $10.6 billion due to the multilateral and private creditors by April.

(...)

Argentines disillusioned with the economic status quo proved receptive to an outsider's outlandish ideas to remedy their woes and transform the nation.

Let's play this out. Argentina is in the midst of an economic collapse in which its central bank has inflated the currency by triple digits in the last year, and the nation still has no money to pay its international debts. Yet, it's "outlandish" to cut spending and try to tame inflation?

I'd be curious if PBS News ever described the former socialist regime's policies as "outlandish" as they destroyed Argentina's economy and sent nearly half of its residents into poverty. Somehow, I doubt they did.

Still, there are signs that Milei has not given up his radical plans to dismantle the state. Already he has said he will eliminate multiple ministries, including those of culture, environment, women, and science and technology. He wants to meld the ministries of social development, labor and education together under a single ministry of human capital.

Is it radical to "dismantle" a state apparatus that has completely failed the people it is meant to represent? I'd suggest that's the farthest thing from radical. Rather, it strikes me as common sense. What would be radical is continuing to do what brought Argentina to the brink of collapse (and perhaps past it).

Still, Milei will face opposition. Aside from the press, his moves are triggering the unions as well.

Still, he is likely to encounter fierce opposition from the Peronist movement's lawmakers and the unions it controls, whose members have said they refuse to lose wages.

That sounds familiar, doesn't it? Argentina's economy has been driven off a cliff, and the very people who did the driving want to make sure they suffer no consequences. It's going to be a tough haul, and Milei may yet fail simply because of the structural barriers holding necessary change, but I hope he does everything he can to bust the union cartels up.

Argentines have a choice. They can let Milei do the hard work and return their nation to prominence in the long term, or they can turn tail and run back to the socialists the moment things get difficult. Hopefully, they are smart enough to do the former.

Link

People hate cutbacks. We are not going to be any happier with our fate when it comes around.

The previous Argentine governments have kept spending to try to turn their economy around.

What do we do? We keep spending.

We applaud the cutbacks there, but we sure wouldn’t applaud them here. Every person would want to carve out a little niche for their own issues, and want to keep that while wanting everyone else’s things to be cut to the bone.

And that’s just human nature.

The people that will be on the receiving end of the cutbacks didn’t create the shortfalls. But they are being asked to sacrifice to provide a solution. Same game everytime, everywhere.

The economy is bad and causing inflation to make what people earn worth a lot less. So now they are simply being forced to earn a lot less off the bat. The solution to not earning enough to live, they are told, is by earning even less

And somehow, while we sit here fat and slovenly, with our freezers stocked to the brim, we look at them as “unwilling” to do what is necessary. But we are the ones who keep borrowing, and borrowing, and borrowing instead of doing what we know everyone should do. Weird.

(12-11-2023 07:14 PM)Todor Wrote:  People hate cutbacks. We are not going to be any happier with our fate when it comes around.

The previous Argentine governments have kept spending to try to turn their economy around.

What do we do? We keep spending.

We applaud the cutbacks there, but we sure wouldn’t applaud them here. Every person would want to carve out a little niche for their own issues, and want to keep that while wanting everyone else’s things to be cut to the bone.

And that’s just human nature.

The people that will be on the receiving end of the cutbacks didn’t create the shortfalls. But they are being asked to sacrifice to provide a solution. Same game everytime, everywhere.

The economy is bad and causing inflation to make what people earn worth a lot less. So now they are simply being forced to earn a lot less off the bat. The solution to not earning enough to live, they are told, is by earning even less

And somehow, while we sit here fat and slovenly, with our freezers stocked to the brim, we look at them as “unwilling” to do what is necessary. But we are the ones who keep borrowing, and borrowing, and borrowing instead of doing what we know everyone should do. Weird.

in a fiat system, the law of diminishing marginal returns always happens one way or the other ... the fear of deflation due to the mass exodus is why our borders are currently wide arse open (residential/commercial float payments require bodies) ... the big boys know margin call is right around the corner with liquidity being a monster with the boomer die-off also in free-fall...

@robbingPeter2payPaulOnlyWorksUntil

the donk patrol doesn't have a fk'n clue how to fix this guy ... I'm pretty certain the pubs wouldn't do much better ... hence, why the globo-homos are going green with no meat for ewe and pop reduction as a means to solvency...

#roaring20sPartDeux

y'all better hope I'm wrong....

Yes! Good for him. We need to do the same here.

Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

(12-11-2023 08:08 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(12-11-2023 07:14 PM)Todor Wrote:  People hate cutbacks. We are not going to be any happier with our fate when it comes around.

The previous Argentine governments have kept spending to try to turn their economy around.

What do we do? We keep spending.

We applaud the cutbacks there, but we sure wouldn’t applaud them here. Every person would want to carve out a little niche for their own issues, and want to keep that while wanting everyone else’s things to be cut to the bone.

And that’s just human nature.

The people that will be on the receiving end of the cutbacks didn’t create the shortfalls. But they are being asked to sacrifice to provide a solution. Same game everytime, everywhere.

The economy is bad and causing inflation to make what people earn worth a lot less. So now they are simply being forced to earn a lot less off the bat. The solution to not earning enough to live, they are told, is by earning even less

And somehow, while we sit here fat and slovenly, with our freezers stocked to the brim, we look at them as “unwilling” to do what is necessary. But we are the ones who keep borrowing, and borrowing, and borrowing instead of doing what we know everyone should do. Weird.

in a fiat system, the law of diminishing marginal returns always happens one way or the other ... the fear of deflation due to the mass exodus is why our borders are currently wide arse open (residential/commercial float payments require bodies) ... the big boys know margin call is right around the corner with liquidity being a monster with the boomer die-off also in free-fall...

@robbingPeter2payPaulOnlyWorksUntil

the donk patrol doesn't have a fk'n clue how to fix this guy ... I'm pretty certain the pubs wouldn't do much better ... hence, why the globo-homos are going green with no meat for ewe and pop reduction as a means to solvency...

#roaring20sPartDeux

y'all better hope I'm wrong....

It’s gonna be ugly. All the “lessons” we have for how everyone should run their economies will come home to roost and we can enjoy the fruits of our own advice.

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

Seems to me and understand I'm not an expert, to keep a government running you cut out ministries or agencies that are bloated and not really serving a purpose. That's money that's not being used and goes toward debt.

While you may think it's bad to slash income tax, it actually isn't that bad. People have more money in their pocket, they'll spend more money, which will mean sales tax will bring in revenue into the government as well.

But you can't continue to fund things and borrow money or create new agencies and borrow money and expect the country to function correctly.

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on what he's doing to see what happens.

(12-12-2023 11:19 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

Seems to me and understand I'm not an expert, to keep a government running you cut out ministries or agencies that are bloated and not really serving a purpose. That's money that's not being used and goes toward debt.

While you may think it's bad to slash income tax, it actually isn't that bad. People have more money in their pocket, they'll spend more money, which will mean sales tax will bring in revenue into the government as well.

But you can't continue to fund things and borrow money or create new agencies and borrow money and expect the country to function correctly.

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on what he's doing to see what happens.

Leftists can't figure out that EVERYONE pays sales taxes, and the minority of Americans pay income tax. They aren't very good with the maffs.

(12-12-2023 11:25 AM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  

(12-12-2023 11:19 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

Seems to me and understand I'm not an expert, to keep a government running you cut out ministries or agencies that are bloated and not really serving a purpose. That's money that's not being used and goes toward debt.

While you may think it's bad to slash income tax, it actually isn't that bad. People have more money in their pocket, they'll spend more money, which will mean sales tax will bring in revenue into the government as well.

But you can't continue to fund things and borrow money or create new agencies and borrow money and expect the country to function correctly.

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on what he's doing to see what happens.

Leftists can't figure out EVERYONE pays sales taxes and the minority of Americans pay income tax. They aren't very good with the maffs.

hence, muh Siri being zee crutch for some of sum ...

(12-12-2023 11:19 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

Seems to me and understand I'm not an expert, to keep a government running you cut out ministries or agencies that are bloated and not really serving a purpose. That's money that's not being used and goes toward debt.

While you may think it's bad to slash income tax, it actually isn't that bad. People have more money in their pocket, they'll spend more money, which will mean sales tax will bring in revenue into the government as well.

But you can't continue to fund things and borrow money or create new agencies and borrow money and expect the country to function correctly.

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on what he's doing to see what happens.

last time I checked, when the subsidies dry up, non-value-added labor (aka WASTE) is the first on the chopping block when margin call comes a knockin' ... 'course, we ain' no donk-a-donks ...

A huge fire broke out at a central Buenos Aires building that includes offices used by the judiciary minutes before midday on Tuesday.

The sixth and seventh floors of the building, at Avenida Alem 668, were engulfed in flames and smoke filled the surrounding area. Firefighters and paramedics are working to rescue people who are on the upper floors of the 13-floor building, a spokesperson for the Buenos Aires ambulance service told the Herald at 12:30 p.m. The lower floors were evacuated.

Over 30 ambulances have been sent to the scene. Hospitals in the area are on alert. By 1:50 p.m. 35 patients had been treated with oxygen and 32 people, including three minors, had been sent to nearby hospitals Ramos Mejía, Argerich and Elizalde.

After initial reports that the affected building was the Labor Ministry, a spokesperson for the ministry confirmed to the Herald that the affected building was next door, but that the Labor Ministry was evacuated as a precaution.

https://buenosairesherald.com/society/la...enida-alem

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

If one cuts out that much bureaucracy, not as much taxes are needed. In any event, like it is here, the problem more than likely isn't the amount of taxes received, it's what done with said received taxes that is the primary problem.

We could take lessons. Many of those are duplicative and not value added. Why do you need infrastructure AND transportation? Why do you need human capital AND labor? Why do you need women, culture, tourism and science? If you have a federal system, why do you need education?

I can only imagine how much money is spent on grants. Like the mating habits of the monarch butterflies and such.

(12-12-2023 12:24 PM)bullet Wrote:  We could take lessons. Many of those are duplicative and not value added. Why do you need infrastructure AND transportation? Why do you need human capital AND labor? Why do you need women, culture, tourism and science? If you have a federal system, why do you need education?

the problem becomes 'then what will they do' ... our gubber'mints' has created a monster that is now unable to be caged w/o serious consequence(s)...

#insulated

this is why the burden defined by the law of diminishing now carries more 'weight' than ever ... the sustainability of 'this' rubber is getting ready to meet the road...

#unchartered

(12-12-2023 06:16 PM)olliebaba Wrote:  I can only imagine how much money is spent on grants. Like the mating habits of the monarch butterflies and such.

that's shite's a pittance relative to being the globo-homo's po-po....

(12-12-2023 12:24 PM)bullet Wrote:  We could take lessons. Many of those are duplicative and not value added. Why do you need infrastructure AND transportation? Why do you need human capital AND labor? Why do you need women, culture, tourism and science? If you have a federal system, why do you need education?

Taxpayers fund an absolutely dizzying amount of research and marketing programs in the US. If you look at the FY 2023 Appropriations Bill (https://appropriations.house.gov/sites/d...ions.pdf), almost every major department of the government has some sort of loan program, marketing program, and R&D program.

The one that really seems wild to me is we spend taxpayer money for marketing programs for electricity. That is literally one of the most inelastic things in terms of demand.

(12-12-2023 06:23 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(12-12-2023 12:24 PM)bullet Wrote:  We could take lessons. Many of those are duplicative and not value added. Why do you need infrastructure AND transportation? Why do you need human capital AND labor? Why do you need women, culture, tourism and science? If you have a federal system, why do you need education?

the problem becomes 'then what will they do' ... our gubber'mints' has created a monster that is now unable to be caged w/o serious consequence(s)...

#insulated

this is why the burden defined by the law of diminishing now carries more 'weight' than ever ... the sustainability of 'this' rubber is getting ready to meet the road...

#unchartered

This would be the perfect time to downsize our bloated government. The labor market is tight and inflation and rates are high. Flooding the market with about 1,000,000 federal employees looking for work would do wonders to drop rates and calm inflation.

Maybe Joe would do it if the republicans let him send the first year savings to Ukraine. Should be about $125 billion or more.

(12-12-2023 11:25 AM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  

(12-12-2023 11:19 AM)gdunn Wrote:  

(12-11-2023 08:21 PM)Mr_XcentricK Wrote:  Mr. Chainsaw is also going to slash taxes so they won’t have the money to fund the few ministries they have left. Argentines are royally screwed. This dude crazier than Trump.

Seems to me and understand I'm not an expert, to keep a government running you cut out ministries or agencies that are bloated and not really serving a purpose. That's money that's not being used and goes toward debt.

While you may think it's bad to slash income tax, it actually isn't that bad. People have more money in their pocket, they'll spend more money, which will mean sales tax will bring in revenue into the government as well.

But you can't continue to fund things and borrow money or create new agencies and borrow money and expect the country to function correctly.

It'll be interesting to keep an eye on what he's doing to see what happens.

Leftists can't figure out that EVERYONE pays sales taxes, and the minority of Americans pay income tax. They aren't very good with the maffs.

Yep, and ones quite regressive, the other "supposedly" a progressive tax for those doing marginally better.

Keeping in mind, of course, these same people simply ignoring inflation rates of 143% to fund useless "ministries" and 40 MM people plunged into poverty.

They clearly believe the money/wealth belongs to gubment and faceless, nameless, anonymous, wholly unaccountable bureaucrats so they can dole out some of the left-overs to those that earned it in the first place.

After all, what does gubment actually produce?!?