In 2024, I stated that the West was in danger as a result of having embraced increasing doses of socialism in its most hypocritical form, which is wokeism. In 2025, I explained the mental parasites sown by the left in humanity. 2026 is the year in which I bring you good news. The world has begun to awaken. The best proof of this is what is happening in the Americas with the rebirth of the ideas of liberty. The Americas will be the beacon of light that will once again illuminate the entire West, with expressions of gratitude towards the foundations in Greek philosophy, Roman law, and Judeo-Christian values. That better future exists only if we return to the roots of the West, which means returning to the ideas of liberty.
Beyond the continuous disasters caused by socialism throughout the 20th century, we can see the terrible damage done in Venezuela: not only an 80% collapse in GDP, but something far worse still, namely the establishment of a bloody narco-dictatorship whose terrorist tentacles spread across our entire continent in the Americas. Therefore, today more than ever, in the face of the ethical and moral degradation afflicting the West as a result of embracing the new socialist agenda, it is necessary to once again promote the ideas of freedom.
Beyond the enormous achievements we have exhibited during these years in office—having eradicated a fiscal deficit of 15% of GDP, reducing inflation from 300 to 30%, lowering country risk by 2,500 basis points, and restoring economic growth with poverty falling from 57 to 27%—pursuing public policies guided by ethical and moral values, I would like to focus on the case of the Ministry of Deregulation, or as we call it back home, the Ministry of Increasing Returns.
This ministry is inspired by the evolution of per capita GDP since the beginning of the Christian era, and it is in the shape of a hockey stick. This figure arises from the fact that until the year 1800, per capita GDP remained almost constant, and from that point onwards it increased 15-fold in a context in which the size of the population increased 10-fold. In parallel, as GDP grew, extreme poverty fell from levels of 95% to 10%. However, this marvel implies the existence of increasing returns, which in economics are associated with concentrated market structures, and this is where the public policy dilemma between Pareto efficiency and justice arises.
In Pareto analysis, increasing returns entail the existence of non-convexities, returns, and with them, economic growth. Consider the effects caused by regulation around the world. The values-based view of capitalism holds that if such a position has been achieved through discovery, voluntary exchange, and without violating the non-aggression principle, there is no justification for intervention. Indeed, intervention constitutes a violation of property rights. And by punishing profits, the economy's potential growth declines. So intervention and regulation are dynamically inefficient because they're violent and therefore unjust.
This is why since we took office in 2023, we have carried out, thanks to the cyclopean effort of Federico Sturzenegger, 13,500 structural reforms which today allow us to have a dynamically more efficient economy and will enable us to grow once again. That is to make Argentina great again.
Thus the Pareto optimum is clearly called into question, and for that reason many consider that it authorizes the regulation of concentrated structures by assimilating them to a competitive model. But as I said, this means killing increasing returns with the unintended collateral effect of killing growth.
Note that along these same lines, we can also address the issue of artificial intelligence, a tool that can be seen as the 21st-century version of Adam Smith's pin factory. That is a catalyst for increasing returns and thereby a catalyst for greater growth and well-being. Therefore, the most responsible thing states can do regarding this issue is to stop pestering those who are creating a better world. Let me say it in a straightforward way: the most responsible thing politicians can do is to stop pestering those who are creating a better world.
At the same time, I wish to point out that all fears associated with dystopian scenarios are nonsense. The answer is Adam Smith. The limit to increasing returns is determined by the size of the market. And finally, we must not forget that the implementation of these projects requires real inputs and financial resources. So expansion will be constrained by initial endowments.
For those who may be interested in the theoretical foundations of these arguments I'm presenting today, Dr. Demian Rial uploaded to social media the study we did together which fleshes out the theoretical foundations to the fact that regulation kills growth.
The omnipotence of government and regulations have the effect of destroying property rights, thereby killing increasing returns and leading to lower growth. Lastly, linked to this phenomenal future that lies ahead, the role of human capital is of vital importance. And in this regard, in Argentina, thanks to the work of Minister Sandra Pettovello with respect to vulnerable sectors, we have stopped giving people fish and have started to teach them how to catch fish, and if possible, hoping to encourage them to create their own fishing company.
Finally, despite popular criticism, free enterprise capitalism does not undermine moral values. After all, economic progress through the mechanism of the invisible hand emerged from Adam Smith's moral sentiments, and the modern era owes its existence to what McCloskey calls the bourgeois virtues. In turn, thanks to the great work of Huerta de Soto in developing the concept of dynamic efficiency and its application in Argentina, we can be confident that the alleged dilemma between efficiency and justice is false.
That is to say, markets are not only superior in productive terms, but they're also just. Therefore, public policies should be guided by ethics rather than by economic and/or political utilitarianism, which invariably leads to unjust, populist, and impoverishing solutions. So I reaffirm what I stated at the beginning of this address: Machiavelli is dead. Therefore, it is time to bury him.
Moreover, given the deep link between morality and free markets, the latter make us better people. Thanks to dynamically efficient markets, we can simultaneously achieve economic progress, defend private property, maintain peace, attain social harmony, and strengthen the social virtues that are indispensable for a prosperous society.
Finally, I would like to leave you with a reflection on this week's Torah portion. Parashat Va'eira describes the moment when Moses confronts Pharaoh, the symbol of the oppressive power of the state, to warn him that if he didn't free the Hebrew people, the final three plagues would fall upon Egypt. When Pharaoh refused, the plague of locusts came, which meant famine. Then came the plague of darkness, meaning the loss of clarity in decision-making, and finally the plague of the death of the firstborn, which illustrates the fate of a society that denies liberty.
The analogy with what is happening in the West today is crystal clear. For some time now, and for some strange reason, the West began to turn its back on the ideas of liberty. That is why in this same place in 2024, I stated that the West was in danger as a result of having embraced increasing doses of socialism in its most hypocritical form, which is wokeism. In turn, in 2025, I explained the mental parasites sown by the left in humanity.
However, 2026 is the year in which I bring you good news. The world has begun to awaken. The best proof of this is what is happening in the Americas with the rebirth of the ideas of liberty. Therefore, the Americas will be the beacon of light that will once again illuminate the entire West, thereby repaying the civilizational debt with expressions of gratitude towards the foundations in Greek philosophy, Roman law, and Judeo-Christian values. We have a better future ahead. But that better future exists only if we return to the roots of the West, which means returning through the ideas of liberty. May God bless the West. May the forces of heaven be with us and long live freedom. Damn it. Thank you very much.
