Comparing — and Contrasting — Javier Milei’s Inaugural Speech with FDR’s

Buenos Aires — The iconoclastic economist Javier Milei was sworn in as Argentina’s president on Sunday, capping a remarkable political rise. He wasn’t even elected to his first public office until two years ago.

Newly published figures show that 45 percent of Argentina’s 46 million people are in poverty and the economy is on the edge of hyperinflation. Facing this stark reality, Milei used his inauguration speech to pledge a “new era of peace and prosperity” for Argentina that will include shock budget therapy, dollarization of the economy, and an attempt to form “a new social contract [that] proposes a different country, in which the state does not direct our lives.” He added a point that he has often stressed: “The only way out of poverty is through more freedom.”