Argentina Has Elected a Libertarian President-What Now?

Argentine President-elect Javier Milei will struggle to implement his pledged structural reforms, like dollarization, due to a lack of support in Congress, which will likely see him instead prioritize spending cuts at the risk of increasing economic uncertainty and triggering mass protests against his new government. Libertarian candidate Javier Milei won Argentina's runoff presidential election on Nov. 19 after obtaining 56% of the vote, defeating center-left Economy Minister Sergio Massa, who obtained 44%. The election took place amid a deep economic crisis, as inflation in Argentina reached 142.7% year-on-year in October, the local currency (the peso) has depreciated substantially against the U.S. dollar in recent years, and the International Monetary Fund expects the country's GDP to contract by 2.5% this year. Milei campaigned on a promise to dollarize the Argentine economy, severely reduce public spending, and lift regulations and reduce state intervention in the economy to boost private-sector investment. In...