In the perspective of Yanis Varoufakis, former finance minister of Greece, Argentina’s president-elect, Javier Milei, is dismissed as “no anarcho-capitalist,” contrary to the belief of many libertarians. Varoufakis, now an economics professor, draws a vivid comparison, labeling Milei as a potential libertarian dictator akin to (Jorge Rafael) Videla, Argentina’s military ruler from 1976 to 1981, but dressed in libertarian ideology.
Varoufakis voiced his concerns following reports of Milei’s intent to fulfill his commitment to eliminate Argentina’s central bank. Milei, the right-wing victor of the November 19 poll, has also vowed to privatize the state energy company YPF and liquidate all public broadcast networks.
Milei’s unconventional approaches to address Argentina’s challenges have attracted global attention, particularly from bitcoiners and crypto enthusiasts. His favorable comments about crypto assets have further endeared him to the bitcoin community.
However, Varoufakis took to X (formerly Twitter) to reject the perception of Milei as an anarcho-capitalist, asserting that the true proponent of this ideology is the American philosopher and author, Robert Nozick.
Anarcho-capitalism, as defined on Wikipedia, is an anti-statist, libertarian political philosophy advocating for stateless societies governed by “systems of private property enforced by private agencies.”
Despite Milei’s proposal to dollarize the economy receiving support from various quarters, including Johns Hopkins economics professor Steve Hanke, Varoufakis vehemently opposes this strategy to combat inflation. He analogizes it to an extreme measure, stating, “As for dollarization vs inflation, it is like nuking a country to get rid of Covid-19. Argentinians deserve our solidarity in the nightmare they are about to descend.”