Javier Milei

Javier Gerardo Milei (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 22 October 1970) is an Argentine economist and politician, currently serving as a federal deputy of Buenos Aires.

Javier Milei
National Deputy
Assumed office
10 December 2021
ConstituencyCity of Buenos Aires
Personal details
Born
Javier Gerardo Milei

(1970-10-22) 22 October 1970
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Political partyLibertarian Party
Other political
affiliations		Avanza Libertad (2020–2021)
La Libertad Avanza (2021–present)
Alma mater
FieldGrowth economics
School or tradition
Influences
Contributions
  • Wealth thermometer
  • Giacomini-Milei Frustration Index
Signature

Milei became widely known for his regular TV appearances where he has been critical of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández administrations. Milei is supportive of the Austrian School of economic thought and considers himself to be a "short-term minarchist", although "philosophically an anarcho-capitalist". Since 2021, Milei has been a National Deputy in Buenos Aires for the La Libertad Avanza coalition. He has pledged not to vote for any tax raises or new taxes.[1]

Milei is currently running as a candidate for the 2023 Argentine presidential election.[2]

Early life and youth

He was born in 1970 to a bus driver, in a family of Italian descent.[3] Milei attended Cardenal Copello high school and decided to pursue a career in economics at the age of 12 after José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's Economy Administration led the country to hyperinflation. In late adolescence and early adulthood he was a goalkeeper for Chacarita Juniors until 1989.[4] He also sang in the band "Everest," which played mostly Rolling Stones covers.[3]

Career

Having obtained an economics degree at the private Belgrano University (Licentiate) and received two Master's Degrees at the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social (IDES) and the private Torcuato di Tella University. He became a chief economist at Máxima AFJP (a private pension company), a head economist at Estudio Broda (a financial advising company) and a government consultant at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. He used to be a senior economist at HSBC as well.,[5]

He was economic adviser to Antonio Domingo Bussi when the latter, although indicted for crimes against humanity committed during the dictatorship, was elected deputy in 1999.[6]

Since 2012, he leads the division of Economic Studies, Fundación Acordar, a think tank of national scope.[5] He is also a member of the B20, the Economic Policy Group of International Chamber of Commerce (an advisor to the G20), and the World Economic Forum. He is a specialist in economic growth and has been professor of several economic subjects in Argentine universities and abroad. He has authored 9 books.[7] Currently, he works for Argentine tycoon Eduardo Eurnekián.

For more than 21 years he has been University Professor of Macroeconomics, Economics of Growth, Microeconomics and Mathematics for Economists. Since 2016 he has been trying to merge Austrian economics concepts with Monetarism concepts, as he understands Ben Bernanke was the greatest central banker ever,[8] a point of view rejected by Austrian economists. Besides his academic career, Milei is the host of his own radio show named "Demoliendo mitos" (Demolishing myths), with frequent participations of the alberdian economist and businessman Gustavo Lazzari and other personalities such as the also alberdian lawyer Pablo Torres Barthe and the libertarian political scientist María Zaldívar.[9][10]

Political career

Founder of the party "La Libertad Avanza" ("Freedom Moves Forward"), Javier Milei claims to be anarcho-capitalist. He campaigns for a total ban on abortion, the liberalisation of the carrying of arms, the abolition of the central bank, the repeal of capital control measures and opposes the introduction of new taxes. He disputes the existence of climate change.[11] He often referred to Carlos Menem, President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999, and his Minister of the Economy Domingo Cavallo.[12]

Milei surprised in the September 2021 primary elections, coming third in the city of Buenos Aires with 13.66% of the vote. Campaigning under the slogan "I didn't come here to lead lambs but to awaken lions", he denounced the "political caste", which he said was made up of "useless, parasitic politicians who have never worked."[11]

Internationally, Milei is inspired by Jair Bolsonaro and Donald Trump and shows his closeness to the Spanish political party Vox.[13] Milei signed the Madrid Charter, a document drafted by Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of Ibero-America, involved in a "criminal project" that are "under the umbrella of the Cuban regime".[14][15] He signed the document along with other politicians such as Rafael López Aliaga of Peru, José Antonio Kast of Chile and Eduardo Bolsonaro of Brazil, the son of President Jair Bolsonaro.[14]

Controversies

Milei has distinguished himself by his sometimes aggressive way of debating and his recurrent use of foul language, leading to several controversies. On 25 August 2021, he insulted the head of the government of the city of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, calling him a "fucking leftist", a "bald shit", and saying that he could "crush him." He defended his statements by saying that Larreta was using "public funds to persecute opponents".[16][17]

Personal life

Milei has been nicknamed "el Peluca" (the Wig) because of his eccentric hairstyle.[18] He has repeatedly said he does not comb his hair, and for this reason his hairstyle has received significant media attention.[19] Regarding his romantic life he has suggested in a La Nación interview that he is a champion of free love, and in a local TV program stated that he took part in several threesomes and that he is a Tantra instructor, in his words being "capable of remaining three months without ejaculating" (sic).[20][21] Nevertheless he identifies as a Catholic, who rejects the Magisterium of the Church.[22] With regards to abortion, he has publicly expressed a strong pro-life position.[23][24]

He owns five english mastiffs, the progenitor being 'Conan,' whom he regards as his 'son', and four of Conan's pups called Milton (for Milton Friedman), Murray (for Murray Rothbard), Robert and Lucas (both for Robert Lucas).[25] He declared that he currently never visits his parents and that "both of them are dead" to him.[26]

Radio
Year Program Radio
2017–present Demoliendo Mitos (demolishing myths) Conexión Abierta

Books
  • Lecturas de Economía en tiempos de Kirchnerismo (in English; Economic Reading in Kirchnerism government era, 2014), ISBN 9789873773006
  • Política Económica Contrarreloj (In English: Economic Politics time trial, 2014), ISBN 9789874513328
  • El retorno al sendero de la Decadencia Argentina (In English: The return to the road of the Argentinian Decadence, 2015), ISBN 9789873677182
  • Maquinita, Infleta y Devaluta (In english: Machinita, Infleta and Devaluta, 2016), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789873677441
  • Otra vez sopa: maquinita, infleta y devaluta: ensayos de economía monetaria para el caso argentino (In English: Once again soup: machinita, infleta and devaluta: monetary economy essays for the Argentine case, 2017), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789876278140
  • Desenmascarando la mentira keynesiana. Keynes, Friedman y el triunfo de la Escuela Austriaca. (In English: Unmasking the Keynesian lie. Keynes, Friedman and the triumph of the Austrian School. 2018), ISBN 9788472097278
  • Libertad, libertad, libertad. (In English: Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, 2019), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789505567393
  • Pandenomics. La economía que viene en tiempos de megarrecesión, inflación y crisis global. (In English: Pandenomics: The economy that comes in times of mega recession, inflation and global crisis, 2020) ISBN 9789505567799

Selected academic articles
  • (2004) 'Real Exchange Rate Targeting. ¿Trilema Monetario o Control de Capitales? La Política Fiscal', Revista de Economía y Estadística, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(2), pp. 63–87, January.
  • (2014) 'De los picapiedras a los supersónicos: Maravillas del progreso tecnológico con convergencia', Revista Actualidad Económica, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(83), pp. 5–18.
  • (2017) 'Ensayos Monetarios para Economías Abiertas: El Caso Argentino' (with Diego Giacomini), Revista Actualidad Económica, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(91), pp. 5–24.

References
  1. "Javier Milei: "Antes de subir los impuestos me corto un brazo"". IP Noticias (in Spanish). 21 July 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. Paladini, Eduardo (11 April 2022). "Javier Milei decidió que será candidato a presidente: qué tiene, cuánto mide y a quiénes quiere sumar". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 April 2022.
  3. Milei: "La Argentina cree que Macri es liberal", El Cronista, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  4. Curiosidades: un gran economista fue arquero de Chaca en la década del 80: Javier Milei", Aqui Chacarita, Retrieved 18 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  5. Javier Gerardo Milei, World Economic Forum, Retrieved 17 February 2018
  6. "Javier Milei reconoció que trabajó para el genocida Antonio Bussi | Una curiosa manera de entender la "libertad"". PAGINA12. 1 September 2021.
  7. Perfil de Javier Milei, El Cronista, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  8. "El retiro de Bernanke y el futuro de los emergentes". Javier Milei (in European Spanish). Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  9. Demoliendo mitos, Radio Conexión Abierta, Retrieved 17 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  10. "Demoliendo mitos", de J.Milei con G.Lazzari, D.Giacomini, y N.Márquez – 09/02/18, YouTube, Retrieved 17 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  11. "Javier Milei, l'ultralibéral qui joue les trublions de la politique argentine". Le Monde.fr. 13 October 2021.
  12. "Javier Milei: el profeta del caos que no se cumple | Economista mediático con discurso violento y autoritario acumula record de pronósticos fallidos". PAGINA12. 20 August 2020.
  13. de 2021, 12 de Octubre. "Javier Milei participó en un acto de la ultra derecha española VOX: "Los animo a que continúen dando esta batalla"". infobae.
  14. "Spooked by Venezuela". The Economist. Vol. 9270, no. 441. London: The Economist Intelligence Unit. 6 November 2021. p. 49.
  15. "Carta de Madrid". Fundación Disenso (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  16. "Javier Milei insultó a Horacio Rodríguez Larreta y lo amenazó: 'Zurdo de mierda, te puedo aplastar'". Clarín. 27 August 2021.
  17. ""Está operando en mi contra": Javier Milei explicó por qué insultó a Horacio Rodríguez Larreta". La Nación. 28 August 2021 – via La Nación (Argentina).
  18. El último que pague la luz, Perfil, Retrieved 25 June 2018 (in Spanish). This nickname is briefly referred to by the article as an off-topic mention.
  19. Javier Milei, el economista del peinado raro, Clarín, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  20. El amor, según el economista Javier Milei, La Nación, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  21. Javier Milei, experto en economía, tríos sexuales y sexo tántrico: "Puedo estar sin eyacular tres meses"", Infobae, Retrieved 25 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  22. Javier Milei on Twitter "I'm sorry, I'm a Catholic, and in my values violence and robbery are wrong. It's your problem if you endorse robbery and liberties cutbacks", Twitter, Retrieved 23 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  23. Milei comparó el aborto con una situación de robo y Barbieri lo cruzó en vivo", ElDestape, Retrieved 26 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  24. Javier Milei opina sobre el aborto, AM 1070- 09/01/18, YouTube, Retrieved 26 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  25. Milei presentó a su "hijo" Conan y a sus "nietos" de cuatro patas en Infama Recargado, MSN, Retrieved 2 December 2018 (in Spanish)
  26. La insólita vida privada y familiar de Milei, el economista más polémico, Pefil, Retrieved 7 June 2018 (in Spanish)
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