Javier Gerardo Milei (born 22 October 1970) is an Argentine politician, businessman and economist currently serving as a federal deputy of

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

. Milei became widely known for his regular television appearances where he has been critical of

Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...

Mauricio Macri Mauricio Macri (; born 8 February 1959) is an Argentine businessman and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 2015 to 2019. He has been the leader of the Republican Proposal (PRO) party since its founding in 2005. He previo ...

and

Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...

administrations. Milei is supportive of the

Austrian School The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social phenomena result exclusively from the motivations and actions of individuals. Austrian school ...

of economic thought and considers himself to be a "short-term

minarchist A night-watchman state, or minarchy, whose proponents are known as minarchists, is a model of a state that is limited and minimal, whose functions depend on libertarian theory. Right-libertarians support it only as an enforcer of the non-aggres ...

", although "philosophically an

anarcho-capitalist Anarcho-capitalism (or, colloquially, ancap) is an anti-statist, libertarian, and anti-political philosophy and economic theory that seeks to abolish centralized states in favor of stateless societies with systems of private property enfo ...

". Since 2021, Milei has been a National Deputy in

for La Libertad Avanza coalition. He has pledged not to vote for any tax raises or new taxes. Milei is currently running as a candidate for the 2023 Argentine presidential election.

Early life and youth

Milei was born in 1970 to a

bus driver A bus driver, bus operator, or bus captain is a person who drives buses for a living. Description Bus drivers must have a special license above and beyond a regular driver's licence. Bus drivers typically drive their vehicles between bus st ...

, in a family of Hungarian descent.Milei: "La Argentina cree que Macri es liberal"
''El Cronista'', Retrieved 15 February 2018 Milei attended Cardenal Copello high school and decided to pursue a career in economics at the age of 12 after

José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz (13 August 1925 – 16 March 2013) was an Argentine lawyer, businessman and economist. He was Minister of Economy under Jorge Rafael Videla's administration between 1976 and 1981, and shaped economic policy at th ...

's economic administration led the country to hyperinflation. In late adolescence and early adulthood he was a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Chacarita Juniors Club Atlético Chacarita Juniors (usually known simply as Chacarita) is an Argentine football club headquartered in Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires, while the stadium is located in Villa Maipú, General San Martín Partido of Greater Buenos Aires. ...

until 1989. He also sang in the band Everest, which played mostly

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the g ...

covers.

Career

Milei obtained an economics degree at the private Belgrano University ( Licentiate) and received two master's degrees from the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social (IDES) and the private

Torcuato di Tella University The Torcuato Di Tella University (''Universidad Torcuato Di Tella'', commonly referred to as UTDT or La Di Tella) is a non-profit private university founded in 1991. Located Buenos Aires, Argentina, it is focused primarily on social sciences. The ...

. He became a chief economist at Máxima AFJP (a private pension company), a head economist at Estudio Broda (a financial advising company) and a government consultant at the

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is an international arbitration institution established in 1966 for legal dispute resolution and conciliation between international investors and States. ICSID is part of ...

. He was also formerly a senior economist at

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

.Javier Gerardo Milei
''World Economic Forum'', Retrieved 17 February 2018 Since 2012, he leads the division of Economic Studies, Fundación Acordar, a think tank of national scope. He is also a member of the B20, the Economic Policy Group of

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...

(an advisor to the G20), and the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

. He is a specialist in economic growth and has been professor of several economic subjects in Argentine universities and abroad. He has authored nine books. Currently, he works for Argentine tycoon Eduardo Eurnekián. For more than 21 years Milei has been a professor of macroeconomics, economics of growth, microeconomics and mathematics for economists. Since 2016 he has been trying to merge Austrian economics concepts with

Monetarism Monetarism is a school of thought in monetary economics that emphasizes the role of governments in controlling the amount of money in circulation. Monetarist theory asserts that variations in the money supply have major influences on measures ...

concepts, as he understands

Ben Bernanke Ben Shalom Bernanke ( ; born December 13, 1953) is an American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Fed, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution. Durin ...

was the greatest central banker ever. Besides his academic career, Milei is the host of his own radio show named ''Demoliendo mitos'' (''Demolishing myths''), with frequent participations of the Alberdian economist and businessman Gustavo Lazzari and other personalities such as the Alberdian lawyer Pablo Torres Barthe and the libertarian political scientist María Zaldívar.

Political career

Political commentators have classified his ideological views as a mix of conservative and libertarian. Milei is a supporter of former Brazilian president

Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955) is a Brazilian politician and retired military officer who has been the 38th president of Brazil since 1 January 2019. He was elected in 2018 as a member of the Social Liberal Party, which he turn ...

and former U.S. president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

. However, he rejected the 2023 invasion of the Brazilian Congress, claiming that democracy must be supported under all circumstances, and criticizing the people who only manifest such concerns when it benefits rulers from their political alignment. He is also close to the Spanish conservative party Vox, and former conservative Chilean presidential candidate

José Antonio Kast José Antonio Kast Rist (born 18 January 1966), also known by his initials JAK, is a Chilean lawyer and politician. Kast ran for president in 2021, winning the first round and losing in the second round run-off to Gabriel Boric. Part of the ...

. Milei signed the ''

Madrid Charter The ''Madrid Charter: In Defense of Freedom and Democracy in the Iberosphere'' ( Spanish: ''Carta de Madrid: en defensa de la libertad y la democracia en la Iberosfera''), also known as the ''Letter from Madrid'', was a manifesto created on 26 O ...

,'' a document drafted by Vox that describes left-wing groups as enemies of

Ibero-America Ibero-America ( es, Iberoamérica, pt, Ibero-América) or Iberian America is a region in the Americas comprising countries or territories where Spanish language, Spanish or Portuguese language, Portuguese are predominant languages (usually form ...

involved in a "criminal project," that are "under the umbrella of the

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

regime". He signed the document along with other politicians such as Antonio Kast of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Rafael López Aliaga Rafael Bernardo López Aliaga Cazorla (born 11 February 1961) is a Peruvian businessman and politician, who is serving as mayor of Lima since 2023. He is currently the leader of Popular Renewal Entering politics late in his career, López Alia ...

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, and Bolsonaro's son

Eduardo Eduardo is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the male given name Edward. Another version is Duarte. It may refer to: Association football * Eduardo Bonvallet, Chilean football player and sports commentator * Eduardo Carvalho, Portuguese footba ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. Milei opposes

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. Asked by a journalist about a hypothetical extreme case of abortion after the rape of a 10 years-old girl, Milei questioned whether one crime can be compensated by another, and argued that a murder, as he considers abortion to be, can never be justified. Milei is a believer in the

cultural Marxism conspiracy theory The term "Cultural Marxism" refers to a far-right antisemitic conspiracy theory which claims that Western Marxism is the basis of continuing academic and intellectual efforts to subvert Western culture. The conspiracy theory misrepresents the ...

. He denies the existence of climate change, saying that it is an invention of cultural Marxism. Milei also links cultural Marxism with the Ministry of Women and says that if he is elected president he will close that ministry. He has also mentioned cultural Marxism to criticize the

LGBT movements Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movements are social movements that advocate for LGBT people in society. Some focus on equal rights, such as the ongoing movement for same-sex marriage, while others focus on liberation, as in the ...

. Milei claims to be

. He often referred to

Carlos Menem Carlos Saúl Menem (2 July 1930 – 14 February 2021) was an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as the President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999. Ideologically, he identified as a Peronist and supported economically liberal policies. H ...

, President of Argentina from 1989 to 1999, and his Minister of Economy

Domingo Cavallo Domingo Felipe Cavallo (born July 21, 1946) is an Argentine economist and politician. Between 1991 and 1996 he was Economic Ministry of Argentina during Carlos Menem presidency. He is known for implementing the ''Convertibility plan'', which es ...

. Milei created the coalition La Libertad Avanza (Freedom Moves Forward) and surprised in the September 2021

primary elections Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

, coming third in the city of Buenos Aires with 13.66% of the vote. Campaigning under the slogan "I didn't come here to lead lambs but to awaken lions", he denounced the "political caste", which he claimed to be made up of "useless, parasitic politicians who have never worked." A Mendoza-based polling firm has carried out an innovative study on the most likely candidates to run for president of Argentina in 2023 and found that Milei was deemed the "lesser evil".

Personal life

Milei has been nicknamed "el Peluca" (the Wig) because of his eccentric hairstyle. He has repeatedly said he does not comb his hair, and for this reason his hairstyle has received significant media attention. Regarding his romantic life he has suggested in a ''

La Nación ''La Nación'' () is an Argentine daily newspaper. As the country's leading conservative newspaper, ''La Nación''s main competitor is the more liberal '' Clarín''. It is regarded as a newspaper of record for Argentina. Its motto is: "''La Nac ...

'' interview that he is a champion of

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues were the concern ...

, and in a local television program stated that he took part in several threesomes and that he is a

Tantra Tantra (; sa, तन्त्र, lit=loom, weave, warp) are the esoteric traditions of Hinduism and Buddhism that developed on the Indian subcontinent from the middle of the 1st millennium CE onwards. The term ''tantra'', in the Indian ...

instructor, in his words being "capable of remaining three months without ejaculating." Nevertheless he identifies as a Catholic, who rejects the

magisterium The magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is the church's authority or office to give authentic interpretation of the Word of God, "whether in its written form or in the form of Tradition." According to the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Chur ...

of the Church. With regards to abortion, he has publicly expressed a strong

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...

position. He owns five english mastiffs, the progenitor being Conan, whom he regards as his "son", and four of Conan's pups called Milton (for

Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (; July 31, 1912 – November 16, 2006) was an American economist and statistician who received the 1976 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his research on consumption analysis, monetary history and theory and the ...

), Murray (for

Murray Rothbard Murray Newton Rothbard (; March 2, 1926 – January 7, 1995) was an American economist of the Austrian School, economic historian, political theorist, and activist. Rothbard was a central figure in the 20th-century American libertarian m ...

), Robert and Lucas (both for Robert Lucas). Milei declared that he used to be extremely distant with his parents and even considered them "dead" for him. However during his political campaign he reconciled with both his father and mother.

Electoral history

Legislative

Radio

Books

* ''Lecturas de Economía en tiempos de Kirchnerismo'' (in English: Economic Readings in times of Kirchnerism, 2014), * ''Política Económica Contrarreloj'' (in English: Economic Politics Against the Clock, 2014), * ''El retorno al sendero de la Decadencia Argentina'' (in English: The return to the road of Argentinian Decadence, 2015), * ''Maquinita, Infleta y Devaluta'' (in English: Money Printer, Inflation and Devaluation, 2016), with Diego Giacomini. * ''Otra vez sopa: maquinita, infleta y devaluta: ensayos de economía monetaria para el caso argentino'' (in English: Soup again: money printer, inflation and devaluation: monetary economy essays for the Argentine case, 2017), with Diego Giacomini. * ''Desenmascarando la mentira Keynesiana. Keynes, Friedman y el triunfo de la Escuela Austriaca.'' (in English: Unmasking the Keynesian lie. Keynes, Friedman and the triumph of the Austrian School. 2018), * ''Libertad, libertad, libertad''. (in English: Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, 2019), with Diego Giacomini. * ''Pandenomics. La economía que viene en tiempos de megarrecesión, inflación y crisis global''. (in English: Pandenomics: The coming economy in times of mega recession, inflation and global crisis, 2020) * ''El camino del libertario''. (in English: The path of the libertarian, 2022)

Selected academic articles

* (2004) 'Real Exchange Rate Targeting. ¿Trilema Monetario o Control de Capitales? La Política Fiscal', ''Revista de Economía y Estadística'', Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(2), pp. 63–87, January. * (2014) 'De los picapiedras a los supersónicos: Maravillas del progreso tecnológico con convergencia', ''Revista Actualidad Económica'', Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(83), pp. 5–18. * (2017) 'Ensayos Monetarios para Economías Abiertas: El Caso Argentino' (with Diego Giacomini), ''Revista Actualidad Económica'', Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Instituto de Economía y Finanzas, vol. 0(91), pp. 5–24.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Milei, Javier 1970 births Living people Politicians from Buenos Aires Argentine libertarians Argentine economists Argentine businesspeople Argentine radio presenters Argentine Internet celebrities Argentine Roman Catholics Chacarita Juniors footballers Critics of multiculturalism Critics of Marxism Argentine anti-communists Anarcho-capitalists Minarchists Growth economists Argentine writers Libertarian economists Libertarianism in Argentina Libertarianism in South America Right-wing populism in South America Signers of the Madrid Charter Members of the Argentine Chamber of Deputies elected in Buenos Aires