Javier Milei and the Paradox of Freedom
20th August 2023
Ever since the Brexit-cum-Trump dual shock of 2016, most of the international press has resorted to labeling candidates and causes to the right of establishment liberal-conservatism as “far-right,” “fringe,” or even “extreme.” To the extent these national-populist leaders have challenged entrenched orthodoxies on free trade and relatively free migration, this media hysteria is partly warranted. But what happens when the shock comes not from a conservative populist like Donald Trump, Viktor Orbán, or Jair Bolsonaro but from a dyed-in-the-wool libertarian? Someone who, taken at his word, wants not to bury but to revive a more radical version of the same neoliberal dogmas of yore about a limited state and the rejection of protectionism?