Since taking office on December 10, 2023, the unhinged Libertarian Javier Milei has waged a brutal assault on Argentina’s physical economy and on its population—historically one of the most productive and highly educated in Ibero-America. The country’s statistical agency, INDEC, has just released figures indicating the depth of destruction of the physical economy in all productive sectors, and the corresponding plunge in employment and growth of poverty and indigence. Thirty-five percent of workers are now classified as poor as a direct result of Milei’s austerity policies, reduced investment in productive activity, opening the country up to unrestricted imports and sweeping deregulation of the state.
As Página 12 newspaper reported July 6, INDEC’s figures for May show an across-the-board collapse in productive activity. While this declined under the 2019-2023 Alberto Fernández administration, due to IMF financial warfare, debt crises, drought, etc., it doesn’t compare to the current disaster. For example, in May, industrial activity dropped by 14.8% year on year, with a 15.2% drop over the previous five months. Industrial activity dropped by 21.3% in March, 16.6% in April and 14.6% in May. Also in May INDEC reported that 15 of the 16 sectors it normally analyzes showed sharp declines, except for oil refining. The 25% decline in the steel industry was attributed to the plunge in demand from the construction industry, auto, agricultural machinery and appliance producers. Overall production in the metallurgical sector dropped by 22% in May, year on year, especially due to reduced production of agricultural machinery. All subsectors of the steel industry were also affected.
Using INDEC data, the Studies Center for Argentina’s Recovery based at the economics department of the University of Buenos Aires separately analyzed the destruction of the labor force, Página 12 reported July 5. Since Milei took office in December, unemployment has grown by 32.4%, or 1.1 million people. In the domestic market, demand has declined sharply, due to high inflation, increased prices for food, transportation, utilities, rents plus erosion of salaries and purchasing power, etc. One key indicator is the per-capita plunge in annual beef consumption—a staple in the Argentine diet. According to the Rosario Board of Trade, reported by El Cronista July 6 annual per-capita beef consumption now stands at 45 kilos, compared to the historical average of 75 kg. “With cuts whose prices are prohibitive combined with decimated purchasing power, beef consumption in Argentina has fallen to the lowest level in 100 years,” the daily reported.
