Javier Milei

Javier Gerardo Milei (Buenos Aires, Argentina; 22 October 1970) is an Argentine libertarian economist, author, radio conductor and public speaker sympathetic to the Austrian School of economic thought. He became widely known for his regular TV appearances where he has been critical of Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Mauricio Macri and Alberto Fernández administrations. Milei considers himself to be a "short-term minarchist", although "philosophically an anarcho-capitalist".

Javier Milei
Milei during an interview in 2019
Born
Javier Gerardo Milei

(1970-10-22) 22 October 1970
Buenos Aires, Argentina
FieldGrowth economics
School or
tradition		Austrian School
Formerly: Neoclassical (until 2008 financial crisis)[1]
Alma mater
InfluencesAlberdi • Lucas • Lynch • Mises • Rothbard • Volcker
Contributions
  • Wealth thermometer
  • Giacomini-Milei Frustration Index
Signature

Biography

Early life and youth

He was born in 1970 to a bus driver. He is of full Italian descent.[2] Milei did high school at Cardenal Copello and decided to pursue a career in economics at the age of 12 after José Alfredo Martínez de Hoz's Economy Administration led the country to a devastating hyperinflation. In late adolescence and early adulthood he was a goalkeeper for Chacarita Juniors until 1989.[3] He also sang in the band "Everest," which played mostly Rolling Stones covers.[2] In a TV show he declared that he currently never visits his parents and that "both of them are dead" to him. To support this view he recalled his college time in which his parents made his life miserable.[4]

Career

Having obtained an economics degree at the private Belgrano University (Licentiate) and received two Master's Degrees at the Instituto de Desarrollo Económico y Social (IDES) and the private Torcuato di Tella University. 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. He used to be a senior economist at HSBC as well.,[5]

Since 2012, he leads the division of Economic Studies, Fundación Acordar, a think tank of national scope.[5] He is also a member of the B20, the Economic Policy Group of International Chamber of Commerce (an advisor to the G20), and the World Economic Forum. He is a specialist in economic growth and has been professor of several economic subjects in Argentine universities and abroad. He has authored 9 books.[6] Currently, he works for Argentine tycoon Eduardo Eurnekián.

For more than 21 years he has been University Professor of Macroeconomics, Economics of Growth, Microeconomics and Mathematics for Economists. Since 2016 he has been trying to merge Austrian economics concepts with Monetarism concepts, as he understands Ben Bernanke was the greatest central banker ever,[7] a point of view rejected by austrian economists." 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 also alberdian lawyer Pablo Torres Barthe and the libertarian political scientist María Zaldívar.[8][9]

Personal life

Milei has been nicknamed "el Peluca" (the Wig) because of his eccentric hairstyle. [10] He has repeatedly said he does not comb his hair, and for this reason his hairstyle has received significant media attention.[11] Regarding his romantic life he has suggested in a La Nación interview that he is a champion of free love, and in a local TV program stated that he took part in several threesomes and that he is a Tantra instructor, in his words being "capable of remaining three months without ejaculating" (sic).[12][13] Nevertheless he identifies as a Catholic, who rejects the Magisterium of the Church.[14] With regards to abortion, he has publicly expressed a strong pro-life position.[15][16]

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), Murray (for Murray Rothbard), Robert and Lucas (both for Robert Lucas). .[17]

Criticism

It has been pointed out that one important issue is that Milei makes constant use of mathematical formulae and charts throughout his writings to illustrate his points, which clearly contradicts the skeptical Austrian views on the usage of mathematics in economics, regarded by them as a social science. This is the main obstacle to frame Milei as an 'Austrian' economist. Although his conceptual framework is decidedly Austrian, his methodology is overall not.[18]

Keynesian economist Andrés Asiain, writing for Página 12, rejected Milei's characterization of the excess of fiat currency issuing as "counterfeiting money". Aisian claims that previous economists understood that the value of money is independent of its gold backing, in this way rendering Milei's statements negligible.[19]

Controversies

On 26 June 2018 Milei was delivering a conference in Metan, Salta, when he called journalist Teresita Frias a "dunce" after she stated he is totalitarian due to his libertarian ideology.[20][21] As he refused to apologize, he was reported to be exerting gender violence on her by some media outlets, and a local court compelled him to be subjected to a psychological examination. Family and Gender Justice Carmelo Paz forbid him to take part in public reunions as a panelist or lecturer within the boundaries of the Metan city lest he face legal charges.[22][23] The judges ended up dismissing the case since according to Milei "there wasn't any violence nor any crime at all".[24]

Radio
Year Program Radio
2017–present Demoliendo Mitos (demolishing myths) Conexión Abierta

Books
  • Lecturas de Economía en tiempos de Kirchnerismo (in English; Economic Reading in Kirchnerism government era, 2014), ISBN 978-987-3773-00-6
  • Política Económica Contrarreloj (In English: Economic Politics time trial, 2014), ISBN 9789874513328
  • El retorno al sendero de la Decadencia Argentina (In English: The return to the road of the Argentinian Decadence, 2015), ISBN 9789873677182
  • Maquinita, Infleta y Devaluta (In english: Machinita, Infleta and Devaluta, 2016), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789873677441
  • Otra vez sopa: maquinita, infleta y devaluta: ensayos de economía monetaria para el caso argentino (In English: Once again soup: machinita, infleta and devaluta: monetary economy essays for the Argentine case, 2017), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789876278140
  • 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), ISBN 9788472097278
  • Libertad, libertad, libertad. (In English: Liberty, Liberty, Liberty, 2019), with Diego Giacomini. ISBN 9789505567393

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), pages 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), pages 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), pages 5–24.

References
  1. Milei, entre la solidez técnica y la aspereza de un exarquero de Chacarita, El Cronista, Retrieved 25 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  2. Milei: "La Argentina cree que Macri es liberal", El Cronista, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  3. Curiosidades: un gran economista fue arquero de Chaca en la década del 80: Javier Milei", Aqui Chacarita, Retrieved 18 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  4. "Javier Milei: "Mis padres no existen para mí" – PH Podemos Hablar", YouTube, Retrieved 25 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  5. Javier Gerardo Milei, World Economic Forum, Retrieved 17 February 2018
  6. Perfil de Javier Milei, El Cronista, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  7. , https://opinion.infobae.com/javier-milei/2013/08/03/el-retiro-de-bernanke-y-el-futuro-de-los-emergentes/index.html, El retiro de Bernanke y el futuro de los emergentes
  8. Demoliendo mitos, Radio Conexión Abierta, Retrieved 17 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  9. "Demoliendo mitos", de J.Milei con G.Lazzari, D.Giacomini, y N.Márquez – 09/02/18, YouTube, Retrieved 17 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  10. El último que pague la luz, Perfil, Retrieved 25 June 2018 (in Spanish). This nickname is briefly referred to by the article as an off-topic mention.
  11. Javier Milei, el economista del peinado raro, Clarín, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  12. El amor, según el economista Javier Milei, La Nación, Retrieved 15 February 2018 (in Spanish)
  13. Javier Milei, experto en economía, tríos sexuales y sexo tántrico: "Puedo estar sin eyacular tres meses"", Infobae, Retrieved 25 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  14. Javier Milei on Twitter "I'm sorry, I'm a Catholic, and in my values violence and robbery are wrong. It's your problem if you endorse robbery and liberties cutbacks", Twitter, Retrieved 23 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  15. Milei comparó el aborto con una situación de robo y Barbieri lo cruzó en vivo", ElDestape, Retrieved 26 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  16. Javier Milei opina sobre el aborto, AM 1070- 09/01/18, YouTube, Retrieved 26 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  17. Milei presentó a su "hijo" Conan y a sus "nietos" de cuatro patas en Infama Recargado, MSN, Retrieved 2 December 2018 (in Spanish)
  18. Milei disertará en Metán sobre capitalismo y monopolios, NOVA Salta, Retrieved 21 December 2018 (in Spanish)
  19. Andrés, Aisian. "La estafa de la emisión". pagina12.com. Página 12. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  20. Escándalo en Salta: el economista Javier Milei maltrató y llamó "burra" a una periodista, Clarín, Retrieved 12 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  21. El economista Javier Milei maltrató a una periodista en Salta: "Sos una burra", Infobae, Retrieved 25 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  22. Ordenan una pericia psicológica para el economista Javier Milei, Perfil, Retrieved 12 July 2018 (in Spanish)
  23. Violencia de género: Milei se presentó hoy en Metán junto al abogado Marcelo Arancibia, El Tribuno, Retrieved 26 June 2018 (in Spanish)
  24. Tribuno, El. "El Tribuno". El Tribuno (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.