Opinion

Milei’s Argentina: Between Liberation and the Institutional Trap

As the human face of shock therapy, Javier Milei faces a difficult path attempting to reform a state long dominated by entrenched interests.
Milei’s Argentina: Between Liberation and the Institutional Trap
Argentine President Javier Milei during the Madrid Economic Forum at the Palacio de Vista Alegre in Madrid, Spain, on June 8, 2025. Oscar Gonzalez Fuentes/Shutterstock
Nils Hesse
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Commentary
What is Argentine President Javier Milei, really: a savior, or a bankruptcy trustee? An anarchist, a populist, or a classical-liberal reformer? Is he dismantling the casta—the entrenched political establishment—or is the casta undermining his reform agenda? In the end, will freedom prevail, or will the corrupt system reassert itself and absorb the would-be reformer?
Nils Hesse
Nils Hesse
Author
Nils Hesse is an independent economist, researcher, and publicist based in the D.C. area. He advises the Berlin-based think tank R21, for which he writes on economic and climate policy. As an affiliated fellow at the Walter Eucken Institute, he researches “Ordoliberalism and Populism” from a history of economic thought and public choice perspective. He also hosts an econ-climate podcast. Previously, he was a speechwriter at the German Federal Ministry of Economics, an economic policy advisor at the Federal Chancellery, an economic analyst at the European Commission, and a policy advisor to the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag. His articles appear regularly in publications such as FAZ, WELT, political magazines and economic blogs. He received his PhD in economic policy from the University of Freiburg in 2008.