"Sometimes even the Trump administration acts like a normal American government. The bailout of Argentina is one of those times. The Trump administration is proposing to lend Argentina up to $20 billion to support its currency on financial markets. The plan is unpopular with Republicans and Democrats alike. Yet at a time when much of U.S. policy seems driven by a perverse hostility to the outside world, assistance to Argentina is a welcome exception that deserves support across the political spectrum."
"Yes, the administration's proposal completely contradicts Donald Trump's rhetoric of "America First," but this rhetoric is wrong and self-harming. Yes, the bailout is motivated by Trump's capricious favoritism. But in this case, Trump has at least chosen an appropriate beneficiary. Yes, at least one hedge-fund friend of Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's stands to benefit. But there are hedge funds on every side of every financial bet, and saying no to the deal will also enrich somebody."
"Javier Milei came to power in December 2023 promising radical change. Decades of corrupt and authoritarian government interventions had twisted the Argentine economy into a dysfunctional mess. In the year that Milei was elected president, inflation surpassed 211 percent. Impoverished people lived in the streets outside empty dwellings that few could afford to rent. A libertarian economist with little political experience, Milei pledged to let loose a free-market transformation that would put Argentina on the path to monetary stability and sustainable growth."
The Trump administration proposes lending Argentina up to $20 billion to support its currency on financial markets. The plan is unpopular with Republicans and Democrats alike. The loan contradicts Donald Trump's America First rhetoric but serves U.S. strategic interests in promoting free-market and democratic institutions in the Western Hemisphere. Argentina elected libertarian Javier Milei in December 2023 amid runaway inflation and economic dysfunction. Milei pledged radical free-market reforms and largely followed through. Hedge funds and private actors may profit from the bailout, but financial actors gain from any intervention. Argentina's moves toward monetary stability contrast with rising authoritarian nationalism elsewhere in Latin America.
Read at The Atlantic
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