Argentina’s Radical Economic Turnaround

About this episode

The episode discusses Argentina's economic turnaround under libertarian economist Javier Milei and its implications for Australia.

Argentina was on the brink: inflation near 300% a year, real wages collapsing, poverty rising, and a large fiscal deficit. Voters elected libertarian economist Javier Milei, who promised deep spending cuts and radical reform. Many predicted a disaster. Two years on, inflation has fallen sharply, and real wages are projected to rise. In this episode, show host Gene Tunny chats with John Humphreys (Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance Chief Economist) and Michael Arbon (adviser to Senator Ralph Babet) on how disinflation works, why fiscal credibility matters, and what Argentina’s experience could mean for Australia — particularly on energy policy and political risk. Gene also briefly touches on developments in the Iran war and their potential global economic implications.

People in this episode

Host: Gene Tunny

Guests: John Humphreys, Michael Arbon

Topics covered

• Argentina
• economic reform
• inflation
• fiscal policy
• libertarianism

Keywords

• disinflation
• real wages
• political risk
• energy policy

Mentioned in this episode

Places: Argentina, Australia

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