There are productive people. They raise quality of life of society 2. Society decides (by majority rule) that the wealth shall be redistributed 3. Wealth evaporates, productive people leave (either stop producing or go where they're treated best) 4. Society needs to attract productive people back or go backwards a century in quality of life.
We are at 3 in Argentina, in most of the best also, but at early stages. Some countries are at 4 (Dubai, Paraguay, El Salvador,...)
In Argentina, Massa won (against Miley), the Argentine Minister of Economy, who caused almost 150% hyper inflation in the country and made Argentina one of the poorest countries in Latin America (note that 100 years ago Argentina was one of the most advanced and richest countries in the world).
The poverty that has emerged in Argentina over the last 20 years is of a destructive nature. The country has the highest number of psychologists and psychiatrists per capita in the world because Argentines are so severely depressed that they cannot save anything and can barely earn enough to survive. They even have hedonistic tendencies - they spend everything on good food and drink because in a few days' time the money will be worthless. Paraguayans, who have always been the poorest in Latin America, have started to go to Argentina for cheap shopping. In Patagonia, I have met young Argentines who go on holiday to Argentina just because they do not have the money for a trip abroad. They do not forget to mention that their parents or grandparents were rich and travelled a large part of the world.
Thanks to their socialist, irresponsible state, Argentines have become poor.
And as it happens in poor countries, desperate people vote for the left, in this case the same socialists who put them in this dismal economic situation!
They vote for them because they are now offering them a bailout - new welfare packages, more money for education, health, infrastructure... And where will the Argentine government get this money? That's right - they'll just print it, because that's the only thing they're perfectly good at!
Which will make inflation even worse and make Argentina even poorer.
It is a perverse combination of Stockholm Syndrome and unconscious economic masochism.
In 2020, more than half of all registered workers in Argentina will be employed by the state! (It will probably be even more now).
These people will never vote for Milei, who wants to abolish the ugly big state, as their livelihoods depend directly on the state. With over 55% of registered employees working for the state, it stands to reason that the majority of Argentines will vote for socialists in order to maintain the status quo.
We are entering a perpetual socialist death spiral:
1. We vote for socialists, which makes us poor and gives us insane inflation (because a socialist government has to print new money to pay for its populist promises).
2. We are poor and therefore desperate, and we vote for even more socialists who promise to "save us" and offer us more socialist benefits - with the money they print, of course.
3. Inflation turns to hyperinflation and we are poorer than ever.
I point out that the socialist death spiral is not only in Argentina, but also in Venezuela, for example. Where, despite the absolutely negative experience of socialism, which has defacto destroyed the whole country, the people continue to gravitate towards socialist politicians whom they believe will 'save' them in a destroyed country. Maduro's opposition, Juan Guaidó, is no rightist, as you might expect, but a hardcore socialist who subscribes to the tradition of Hugo Chavez.
Our Uruguayan lawyers have written to me to say that they are not keeping up with the new applications for Uruguayan residency from Argentines who have completely lost hope in a prosperous Argentina which become the country with the worst economic growth in Latin America, specifically negative 3%.
And as a global opportunist, I will continue to reap the benefits of Argentina's hyperinflationary tourism and enjoy the lowest prices in a socialism that will collapse for at least the next four years.
Although I do feel sorry for the Argentines themselves.
