|
Post detail
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
is not the only Austrian economist to have denounced Argentina’s self-ascribed libertarian president as a fugazi.
Milei’s “Love Affair With All the Institutions Responsible for Evil in the World”
In July, three members of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ludwig von Mises Institute Germany resigned their seats after the Institute announced on its website that a “Memorial Prize in honour of Ludwig von Mises” would be created in October of this year and awarded to Milei.
One of the three economists, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, is a German paleolibertarian and anarcho-capitalist philosopher who teaches at the University of Nevada. In his earlier years he was a close collaborator of Murray Rothbard as well as a major inspiration for Milei’s economic ideas — until Hoppe began criticising Milei’s policies as well as his unquestioning subservience to Washington and Israel. On one occasion, Hoppe said:
“There is a kind of love affair between Milei and all the institutions responsible for evil in the world. He loves the US government, which is the most imperialist, and he aligns himself with it.”
He also said:
“Libertarianism suddenly means being a fan of Netanyahu, a fan of the clown Zelenskyy, and a fan of Trump… That is not libertarianism, we oppose all of them.”
Following the resignation of Hoppe and his two colleagues, only two of the original five members remain on the Board. The three professors explained their decision to leave the board in a seething text that was published by the Mises Institute a few days ago. Here are the key parts (emphasis my own):
Neither the creation of the prize (which, incidentally, is the only prize ever awarded by MIG) nor the selection of the laureate were discussed in advance with the Institute’s Scientific Advisory Board. Not only is this bad style, it also gives the public the impression that these decisions have the backing of the Board. This is not the case…
It is true that [Milei] has made the names of Ludwig von Mises, Murray Rothbard and other thinkers of the Austrian School known to a wider public. But his knowledge of their ideas and theories is superficial and flawed, and his praise is therefore double-edged. In any case, we can only advise the public not to regard Milei’s statements on economic philosophy as authoritative…
For one thing, Milei is at the beginning of his political career. The future success of his policies to date is highly questionable, and he may still take many wrong turns in the course of his term in office. No one knows how freedom-oriented they will ultimately prove to be. The assessment of his actions must be differentiated and open-ended. This simply cannot be done after twenty months in office…
[W]hatever successes his policies may have had so far have been largely achieved through the usual means of inflationary government financing, i.e. by inflating the money supply and government debt. It remains to be seen whether this strategy will succeed under Milei, given that it has repeatedly and for good reasons failed in Argentina and other countries in the past.
In addition, all the achievements of his political record to date are already offset by major liabilities: the political centralisation of the country, the expansion of the police state, the failure to implement the announced abolition of the central bank (one of the most popular points in his election programme), the haggling with the country’s traditional political elites, who also dominate his cabinet, and a foreign policy that is not geared towards international peace and is therefore not a libertarian policy.
Today, Javier Milei stands not only for inflation-financed radical economic policies with an uncertain outcome. He also stands for uncritical and downright enthusiastic solidarity with the current governments of the United States and Israel.
In our opinion, awarding Javier Milei a ‘Memorial Prize in Honour of Ludwig von Mises’ therefore has the potential to cause lasting and irreparable damage to the Ludwig von Mises Institute Germany, as well as to the Austrian School as a whole.
We cannot and will not take responsibility for this. We therefore declare our resignation from the Scientific Advisory Board of the Ludwig von Mises Institute Germany.
While hopefully more and more libertarians speak out against Milei’s policies, the reality on the ground is that public support for Milei, while lower than six months ago, remains stubbornly above the 40% mark. This, I believe, is largely a reflection of the public’s lingering dissatisfaction with Argentina’s traditional parties, which is fully merited.
But it also means that despite all the scandals, the worsening economic malaise, the IMF bailout, the crypto scam aimed squarely at Milei’s own followers, and the spectre of rising authoritarianism (Milei’s constant use of decrees and presidential vetoes, his escalating crackdowns on protests, his prohibition of medical marijuana, his plans to build Bukele-like mega-prisons and set up a pre-crime unit), a hard-core of Argentines will continue voting for Milei’s thinly veiled neoliberal project whatever he says or does.
At the same time, Milei’s party, La Libertad Advanca (Freedom Advances), is haemorrhaging support and allies in Congress, making it much more difficult for him to govern by decree and veto. And that is a small silver lining.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
