"The first thing we have to understand is that the state is not the solution," Javier Milei said in his famous 2023 Afuera! video.
asserted
Milei → have → video
The world was shocked, and many gawked, as they watched a politician who espoused contempt for the state actually deliver electoral success.
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who → shock → success
In the three years since, Milei has made good on his promise to shrink the size of the state—eliminating 200 departments and 10 ministries.
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Milei → make → departments
After spending a week in the country's capital, Buenos Aires, eating empanadas and way too much steak (if that is even possible), hanging out with strangers in bars, and meeting the libertarians who fostered the intellectual movement that put a self-described anarcho-capitalist in charge, it's safe to say that Argentines agree things have changed.
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things → spend → charge
There is disagreement, however, on whether these changes have been for the better.
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changes → be → better
Last week, I was in Argentina to attend the Winds of Change conference, hosted by Reason Foundation (the nonprofit that publishes this magazine), the Archbridge Institute, and Libertad y Progreso—a Buenos Aires-based think tank.
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that → attend → magazine
Unsurprisingly, attendees were almost fanatical about the president, who spoke for over an hour, mostly about his success in curbing inflation—which has fallen from 211 percent in 2023 to 31.6 percent in 2025.
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which → speak → 2025
While Milei's liberalism has been staunch and successful when it comes to the economy, libertarians at the conference and abroad have raised concerns about the president's views on social issues.
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libertarians → come → issues
He opposes abortion and the "LGBT agenda," and after citing a story about a gay American couple who were jailed for abusing their children, he said that "in its most extreme forms, gender ideology is outright child abuse.
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ideology → oppose → forms
Argentina's vice president, Victoria Villarruel, has also been criticized for her conservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage.
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president → criticize → abortion
Some of Milei's foreign policy has also cut against the anarcho-capitalist views that the president has become famous for.
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president → cut → that
The day after Milei's conference speech, he restated Argentina's sovereignty claim over the Falkland Islands, announcing sanctions on oil companies drilling in the area and funding a new naval base near the islands.
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he → restate → islands
I may have paid closer attention to the announcement because I am British and have visited the Falkland Islands (the conference attendees I spoke to seemed unbothered by the announcement), but using the power of the state to threaten islands whose population recently voted 99.8 percent to remain British is certainly antithetical to his "slash the state" mantra.
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population → pay → mantra
Perhaps he saw the announcement as a low-stakes, high-reward move to boost popularity.
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he → see → popularity
Outside of the conference, I asked almost everyone I met what they thought of Milei.
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they → ask → Milei
Inflation was the subject that came up most often in my conversations with Buenos Aires locals.
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that → come → locals
Since 2001, inflation has spiraled, with the 20 years that followed accumulating an extraordinary rise of over 10,197 percent.
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that → spiral → percent
Young people have no memory of life without extreme price hikes, largely as a result of the Kirchnerist governments.
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people → have → governments
Former Presidents Néstor Kirchner (who was in office 2003–2007) and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (2007–2015) saw government spending skyrocket and raised taxes to finance it, resulting in the Argentine central bank expanding the money supply and causing inflation.
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bank → see → inflation
A woman in her early 30s said that inflation made planning for the next few months extremely difficult.
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planning → say → months
She said that before Milei, prices fluctuated so much that she had little idea what everyday goods might cost a few months down the line.
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goods → say → line
"Now I can plan," she said, and the difference is "extreme."
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difference → plan → ?
She used egg prices as an example of welcome price stabilization.
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She → use → stabilization
After rising from 401 pesos (about $1.53) to 1,531 pesos (about $5.85)—a more than 280 percent increase—in 2023, egg prices are now sitting at just over 3,800 pesos (about $2.51) per dozen in Buenos Aires, according to Expatisan.com, a global price index site for expats.
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prices → rise → expats
She can think about what she might buy or do four months from now with some confidence that the cost won't change beyond recognition.
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cost → think → recognition
She also pointed to a new clothing market as a more material change.
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She → point → change
As Argentina has opened itself up to more imports, cheaper clothing from China (especially from retailers like Shein) has become easier to access.
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clothing → open → Shein
She joked that Argentine women tend to wear black, partly because their choices have long been constrained by an expensive and protected domestic clothing market.
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choices → joke → market
After complimenting my bright red dress, she wondered whether cheaper imported clothes might allow Argentine women to start wearing different colors.
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women → compliment → colors
On a tour of the capital, our 52-year-old guide felt similarly optimistic.
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guide → feel → capital
A mother of three, she said that her children in particular were excited about the prospect of economic change under Milei.
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children → say → Milei
For her, falling inflation was the clearest sign that the new direction was working.
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direction → fall → her
"We were driving on the left, and now we're driving on the right," she says.
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she → drive → right
But not everyone I met in Buenos Aires was as convinced.
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I → meet → Aires
Bouncers at a cocktail bar told me they disliked Milei, citing the rising cost of living.
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they → tell → living
(I also found Buenos Aires more expensive than I had anticipated.
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I → find → ?
One Uber driver said that, in his view, "working people don't like him."
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people → say → him
Milei's supporters, he suggested, were more likely to be the wealthy.
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he → suggest → ?
While Milei attracted substantial support from low-income voters—including recipients of welfare programs—in 2023, there are signs that sentiment might be shifting.
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sentiment → attract → 2023
According to a survey conducted by the Instituto Universitario that was published in July, 42 percent of young, working-class voters in Buenos Aires who voted for Milei said they would not do so again.
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they → accord → Milei
…and 15 more, not listed.
