What Milei’s Dollarization Plan Would Mean for Argentina’s Economy

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The president-elect has pledged to curb runaway inflation.

By Cameron Abadi, a deputy editor at Foreign Policy, and Adam Tooze, a columnist at Foreign Policy and director of the European Institute at Columbia University. Sign up for Adam’s Chartbook newsletter here.

President-elect Javier Milei laughs with lawmakers at the National Congress for the official announcement of the final vote count on Nov. 29 in Buenos Aires.

President-elect Javier Milei laughs with lawmakers at the National Congress for the official announcement of the final vote count on Nov. 29 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Tomas Cuesta/Getty Images

In the run-up to Argentina’s presidential election in late October, the country’s inflation rate reached 143 percent. The winner of the election, perhaps unsurprisingly, was the candidate who promised a radical political shift. Javier Milei, who will take office on Dec. 10, has referred to himself as not only a libertarian, but as an anarcho-capitalist. He has big plans for Argentina, including the abolition of the central bank, various national privatizations, and the possible dollarization of the country’s currency,

Cameron Abadi is a deputy editor at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @CameronAbadi

Adam Tooze is a columnist at Foreign Policy and a history professor and the director of the European Institute at Columbia University. He is the author of Chartbook, a newsletter on economics, geopolitics, and history. Twitter: @adam_tooze