Analysis: Undaunted by Challenges, Argentina Takes a Sharp Right Turn

During the first part of the last century, Argentina was among the top economies in the world with a level of prosperity that reflected the meaning of its name—the Land of Silver. Following World War II, Argentina’s “silver” was eclipsed as it slipped into a form of socialism—”Peronism”—and a long period of poverty, but with the election of classical liberal economist Javier Milei as the nation’s new president, there are hopes that could be reversed. Mr. Milei, who pursues economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism, advocated a system of small government. He has criticized communism and socialism as systems that caused poverty and has argued that the government should only be concerned with justice and security....