In a desperate attempt to revive an economic model that plunged us into misery, figures like Axel Kicillof are taking advantage of split provincial legislative victories to impose retrograde measures. Winning a local election doesn't give them license to plunder Argentinians with irrational tax hikes, such as raising the levy on virtual wallets from 0.1% to 5%. This not only violates the principle of legality by affecting pre-existing balances, but also directly impacts millions of workers who rely on these digital tools for their daily lives. It's a perverse incentive for informality, a brake on technological progress, and a betrayal of the popular mandate that rejected state interventionism. Measures like this, worthy of a Soviet regime, benefit traditional banking corporations at the expense of innovation, contaminating all economic activity. This isn't a tax on wallets: it's an assault on ordinary people, a reminder that Kirchnerism hasn't learned anything from its legacy of hyperinflation, depleted reserves, and 57% poverty.
Meanwhile, as the opposition clings to failed policies, the government of Javier Milei is proving with actions that the path to prosperity is economic freedom. In July, the mining industry grew by 8.2% year-on-year, with crude oil extraction rising by 19.4% and natural gas by 6.9%, reaching record levels. In the first eight months of the year, pork production reached 526,463 tons, with 5.52 million head slaughtered and a per capita consumption of 18 kilograms (39.7 pounds), all historic figures. These aren't coincidences: they're the result of an unprecedented deregulation process, where 1,246 regulations and nearly 9,000 articles were modified or eliminated, the most ambitious in Argentine history. At the same time, year-on-year inflation plummeted from 209% to 33% in just twelve months, dropping 176 percentage points. In August, the basic food basket rose by just 1%, and the clothing and footwear sector recorded deflation of -0.3%, key factors in understanding the decline in poverty and indigence.
