Today's episode is an audio version of The Reason Livestream, which takes place every Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern on Reason's YouTube channel.

The topic this week was the rise of Javier Milei, a self-described libertarian and Austrian school economist who defied polling expectations in Argentina's recent presidential primary elections, finishing in first with 30 percent of the vote. Milei will head into the October general election as the frontrunner. 

Reason's Zach Weissmueller spoke with Gloria Álvarez, a libertarian author and radio and TV host who is a fierce critic of socialism and populism in Latin America and who has declared she's running for president in her home country of Guatemala, and Eduardo Marty, an Argentine political economist who founded the Foundation for Intellectual Responsibility and supports Milei's candidacy.

They talked about Milei's economic policies—which include slashing taxes, abolishing the central bank, and dollarizing an economy beset by triple-digit inflation—and reacted to fiery media appearances in which he lashes out at socialists and calls for the removal of a "parasitic" political class that he says has wrecked and plundered Argentina. They also analyzed U.S. media coverage of Milei, with some outlets characterizing him as an Argentinian Trump and a "far-right libertarian."

Today's sponsors:

• Why We Can't Have Nice Things. A six-part Reason magazine podcast series about the frustrating and foolish aspects of American trade policy that make everyday items more expensive. From last year's sudden shortages of baby formula to the Jones Act and President Lyndon Johnson's infamous "chicken war," host Eric Boehm sits down with industry experts and libertarian policy wonks to explore how these counterproductive rules got made—and explains why they can be so difficult to undo.

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