Argentine President Javier Milei delivered a remarkable speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 17, 2024. I have compiled and commented on some of the most important and significant passages.

Thesis 1: Capitalism is the best and only recipe against poverty

Milei begins with a historical review and makes it clear that it was only capitalism, which emerged around 200 years ago, that has given a large proportion of the world’s population an opportunity to escape poverty.

Milei: “… when you look at per capita GDP since the year 1800 and until today, what you will see is that after the Industrial Revolution, global per capita GDP multiplied by over 15 times. Which meant a boom in growth that lifted 90% of the global population out of poverty. We should remember that by the year 1800, about 95% of the world's population lived in extreme poverty and that figure dropped to 5% by the year 2020, prior to the pandemic. The conclusion is obvious. Far from being the cause of our problems, free trade capitalism as an economic system is the only instrument we have to end hunger, poverty and extreme poverty across our planet.”

Milei is right: Before capitalism began, 90 percent of the global population was mired in extreme poverty. Today, according to World Bank figures, it is only 8.5 percent. And the biggest decline has occurred in the past few decades!

Thesis 2: Against “social justice” and the zero-sum mindset

Milei makes it clear that redistribution is not the way to solve society’s problems and that it only creates new problems.........

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