Freedom is a central theme in a Davos address where Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, framed his message for a business audience. He warned that Western political and economic structures are opening doors to socialism through government interventions across everyday life. He argued that socialism tends to impoverish nations and pointed to what he described as flaws in policies that regulate markets and industries. In a speech meant to defend his approach, Milei criticized monopolies and what he called an activist agenda on abortion, gender, and environmental issues.
The anarcho-capitalist voice arrived in Switzerland with a clear doctrinal stance, presenting libertarianism as the guiding light of his message. His remarks carried a lecturer’s cadence, even as he dismissed counterarguments and pressed for a limited government. He contended that policies intended to help others often backfire, and that a freedom-centered model would better deliver social progress. He asserted that experiments in freedom produced poorer outcomes in Argentina, a claim met with questions from historians and economists about data interpretation. Milei urged unwavering faith in free enterprise capitalism as the moral path to prosperity, noting a personally crafted inscription that he says declares it as the system capable of creating lasting wealth.
In a masterclass tone, Milei argued that global GDP had remained stagnant for long periods but began a rapid rise with the spread of capitalist production. He claimed that average growth rates climbed in the modern era and accelerated further in the 21st century, enabling a large share of the world’s population to escape poverty. He framed unregulated free markets as the means to eliminate hunger, insisting that empirical evidence supported these conclusions.
Social justice is not fair
The Argentine leader did not retreat from his core rhetorical strategy. He argued that critics describe capitalism as inherently individualistic while praising social justice, yet he contended that social justice often falls short of fairness and does not serve the common good. He warned that higher state taxation means less personal freedom and suggested that wealth redistribution cannot truly create a fairer outcome because the cake cannot be sliced to everyone equally.
Milei traced his ideological shift toward libertarianism to readings by Murray Rothbard and the Argentine economist Alberto Benegas Lynch. He described those influences as shaping a liberalism rooted in non-aggression and the defense of life, freedom, and property. He challenged notions that academia or international bodies demonize a superior economic system.
While addressing his Davos audience, Milei did not shy away from sparring with opponents described as open socialists or with local leaders and academics he blamed for misapplying classical theories. He asserted that voluntary transactions prevent market failures and argued that it is the state that introduces coercion and violence, not the markets themselves, insisting there are no true market failures.
New demons
Milei argued that concentrated economic power should not be over-regulated, claiming that regulation would stifle growth and push society toward socialism. He criticized what he called a modern feminist agenda that expanded state involvement via ministries and lamented what he viewed as harmful ideas, including population concerns and abortion debates. On environmentalism, he dismissed certain Western narratives as neo-Marxist tactics used by Western media, universities, and international organizations.
According to Milei, some in the Davos audience might see these points as exaggerated. Yet he warned that the West was drifting toward socialism as states began to supervise more aspects of daily life. He argued that many political proposals appeared to be collectivist in nature and that progress would run counter to those proposals.
The Argentinian president did not present himself as a preacher of doom. He urged more people to raise their voices and take the lead, inviting the West to return to a path of freedom. His closing remarks, met with enthusiastic applause from the Argentinian delegation, were addressed to business leaders: do not be swayed by a political caste or state parasites, he advised. He urged entrepreneurs to resist demands for moral judgments on ambition and to stand in solidarity with Argentina as an ally.
After his speech, Milei planned discussions with international figures, including a high-level encounter with the International Monetary Fund’s managing leadership and invitations to senior political and economic advisors connected to the United States and allied circles.