News of buenos aires times

A most illiberal libertarian

Yesterday 06:06 Is Milei a democrat? Probably not; it is increasingly clear that, by instinct, he is an authoritarian who does not take kindly to even mild criticism.

by James Neilson

As I see it

A window of opportunity for autocrats

31-08-2024 05:37 Donald Trump is far from being the only North American politician who would like to see his country leave the rest of the world to its own wretched devices.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Libertarian entrapment

31-08-2024 05:21 The paradox of a libertarian government revering the free market while unable to exit bureaucratic Kirchnerite capital controls has already drawn comment but the reduction of the PAIS tax exposes another contradiction.

Editorial

Inflation down on its all fours?

17-08-2024 05:39 The main obstacle to zero inflation is zero certainty as to the future.

As I see it

When whites play at identity politics

10-08-2024 05:55 To the alarm of many not just in the English-speaking countries but also in many others, hard-up whites have decided that they too can play at identity politics.

EDITORIAL

In default and by default

10-08-2024 05:45 The moral bankruptcy of the main opposition front is a vital lifeline for a government facing enormous difficulties in restructuring Argentina.

EDITORIAL

Between Tucumán and Asunción

13-07-2024 07:44 President Milei’s decision to skip the Mercosur summit does more to compromise Argentina’s future than his photograph and 10-point pact does to advance it.

As I see it

Goodbye to all that, perhaps

13-07-2024 07:32 Like Mauricio Macri before him. Milei is convinced that for Argentina to prosper he and his supporters will have to win the “cultural battle.”

by James Neilson

As I see it

The US and Europe in meltdown mode

06-07-2024 05:50 All this political turmoil reflects what is going on beneath the surface. In every Western country, people are dissatisfied with the way things are and fear they could soon get far worse.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Are youth votes wasted on the young?

06-07-2024 05:27 Electoral opportunism is at work.

Beyond the headlines

Work in regress?

29-06-2024 04:27 How can having a job continue to be synonymous with making a living if there are around seven times as many people below the poverty line as jobless?

by Michael Soltys

Editorial

When Loan is a national debt

29-06-2024 04:22 On the nationwide clamour for the reappearance of a missing child.

As I see it

A bad time for politicians everywhere

29-06-2024 04:19 Once upon a time, successful politicians were held in high regard. This is no longer the case.

by James Neilson

As I see it

Milei may have to come down to earth

22-06-2024 05:53 When talking high theory, the president is in his element, but he is far less self-confident when it comes to practical matters; he must feel they are beneath him and can be left to his sister.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Bases loaded with grand slam yet to come

15-06-2024 06:50 The Senate vote was a close-run thing but perhaps Milei gains more from near defeat within Congress and violence outside than from a comfortable and peaceful victory.

As I see it

A sea change in the Western world

15-06-2024 06:40 Abandoned to their fate by leading Democrats and socialists, people are turning towards politicians who are willing to take on the system they think has betrayed them.

by James Neilson

As I see it

The country needs a proper civil service

08-06-2024 05:36 Rather than merely slimming down a pathologically obese public sector, it would be far better to concentrate on greatly improving its quality.

by James Neilson

As I see it

The greatest show on earth

01-06-2024 05:56 Milei is playing the leading part in an imaginative cosmic drama he himself dreamed up in which, backed by heavenly forces, he battles the leftist foes of everything that is good.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Risky Investment Guarantee Inconsistencies

01-06-2024 05:45 The primacy of the fiscal over the economic causes problems elsewhere.

EDITORIAL

The pain in Spain falls mainly on the gain

25-05-2024 06:35 This dispute is far more easily personalised as being between President Milei and Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez rather than between the two nations.

As I see it

Hail to the new populist caudillo

18-05-2024 06:49 Will Milei’s daring experiment work and give Argentina an economy that is at least as efficient as those of what is known as the developed world? Or will the cure he is intent on subjecting it to prove to be so painful that it kills the patient?

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Single digit should not mean single issue

18-05-2024 06:13 Single-digit inflation relieves the poor more than anybody but comes at a price – must they also be the ones to pay it?

EDITORIAL

Contradictions and multitudes

11-05-2024 06:07 The Javier Milei Presidency has never been short of contradictions.

As I see it

The perils of cyberspace

04-05-2024 05:37 A world in which everybody is electronically connected to everybody else and to the Internet is not one in which people feel closer to one another. Engrossed as they are with the talking pixels they see before them, they do their best to steer clear of flesh-and-blood creatures.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Missing the point

27-04-2024 05:38 Milei misread the demonstration as “the caste” riding a noble cause to defend its interests but the scale, spontaneity and peaceful nature of the protest argue against this bid to politicise the march.

As I see it

Give us more education

27-04-2024 05:07 Though academe has been on iron rations for decades, with professors long being accustomed to having to survive on a pittance, the feeling that Milei had it in for the universities because he thinks they breed lefties gave teeth to Tuesday’s demonstrations.

by James Neilson

As I see it

The worst journalists in the world

20-04-2024 06:07 Milei wants to control the narrative and, by doing so, change the way Argentines think about the world. Does hurling insults at journalists help win him more adherents?

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Pre-paid or re-paid?

20-04-2024 05:14 Subordinating medical fees to the dictates of a usually populist government did not work since it placed pricing hopelessly out of sync with the costs, but the naïve faith that the market could correct the damage of years in three months was a non-starter.

Editorial

The medium as the message

13-04-2024 05:54 Milei is the leader of a pack which competes to be the most outrageous but this week he seems to have been trumped by an underling: Alberto ‘Bertie’ Benegas Lynch.

As I see it

Looking for unity offshore

06-04-2024 06:54 Despite the diplomatic points that can be scored, the current status quo looks likely to prevail for some time to come.

by James Neilson

Editorial

Mixed messages

06-04-2024 06:29 While Argentina’s government has turned full circle between the two Easters from leftist populism to far right devotees of the market calling themselves libertarians, inflation persists as the basic fact of life .

EDITORIAL

The forces of Earth

30-03-2024 05:15 All the suffering of Good Friday was followed by Resurrection Sunday but can we be sure of the same sequence for Argentina?

EDITORIAL

48 years and 100 days later

23-03-2024 06:34 Tomorrow is the 48th anniversary of the 1976 military coup, while last Tuesday marked the classic first 100 days of the Javier Milei Presidency.

As I see it

The dragon is getting older too fast

23-03-2024 06:32 Not that long ago, many took it for granted that China would soon overtake the United States to become the world's top nation, but there are plenty of good reasons to think they were mistaken.

by James Neilson

Editorial

The Pact of May (or maybe?)

09-03-2024 06:30 This month and the next stand to be the eye of a perfect storm – a rare moment in the always abnormal Argentine economy which is a nightmare for spenders and savers alike.

EDITORIAL

Pouring oil on the flames

02-03-2024 05:57 If the spark that lit the fire was the threat of Chubut’s PRO Governor Ignacio Torres to cut off all oil and gas unless the cutbacks were reversed, this might appear a wild outburst – but it was less random and accidental than it might seem.

As I see it

Politicians in the dog house

02-03-2024 05:01 Business, especially big business, has long had a bad press in Argentina. This is partly due to the willingness of politicians to blame it for their own failures, as happens whenever inflation gets out of hand.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Poverty also in the debate

24-02-2024 06:08 Discussing figures is one thing and denialism quite another – this applies to the human rights debate and it also applies to poverty.

EDITORIAL

The summer of our discontent

17-02-2024 06:14 There is every reason to fear a vicious circle of devaluation and inflation continuing.

As I see it

Milei runs into a roadblock

10-02-2024 06:51 In most places, the old guard has managed to fend off those besieging it. Even if on occasion the establishment’s forces have had to beat a retreat, they have usually retained enough power to thwart their enemies.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

Who crashed the omnibus?

10-02-2024 06:47 The government must be considered the chief architect of the self-destruction of its megalomaniac omnibus bill.

As I see it

An outsider at the centre of things

03-02-2024 08:11 Milei’s game plan is straightforward enough. Unfortunately, as governments the world over are well aware, squeezing the money supply is always a painful process.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

An omnibus not for everybody

02-02-2024 14:46 Uncertainty is by no means limited to the final outcome of Javier Milei's bill in Congress.

EDITORIAL

The four horsemen

27-01-2024 07:35 The general strike should be deemed not so much a success or a failure as a somewhat irrelevant blip within what gives every indication of being a long hot summer and a traumatic year.

As I see it

The dreaded Orange Man is on the way back

27-01-2024 06:16 Versions of the same drama, in which upstarts successfully take on those who believe themselves entitled to lord it over everybody else, are being staged in many parts of the world where ordinary folk feel they are getting a raw deal.

by James Neilson

EDITORIAL

More holes than a Swiss cheese?

20-01-2024 06:57 No matter the distance from home, Argentine leaders always seem to be speaking to domestic galleries when addressing international audiences.

As I see it

Milei goes to the Magic Mountain

20-01-2024 06:53 What goes down splendidly with teenagers in La Matanza does not necessarily appeal to fabulously wealthy individuals who could be persuaded to invest in Milei’s ambitious project.

by James Neilson

As I see it

The Kirchnerites have Milei in their sights

13-01-2024 06:21 The fate of the new government will depend largely on Milei’s ability to persuade people that the fearful emergency he goes on about is not just a figment of an overheated imagination but something terribly real.

by James Neilson