Trump and Musk want to borrow Javier Milei's chainsaw

But how well would the Argentine president's radical budget-cutting regime translate to the United States?

When a mop-haired economist brandishing a chainsaw won the presidency of Argentina a year ago, the world greeted Javier Milei’s victory largely as a blip. The election of a budget-slashing libertarian nicknamed “El Loco” was seen by many as a desperate lurch in his country’s chronic struggle for economic stability.

Today Milei’s crusade is a lot closer to center stage. Since taking office last December, he has turned Argentina’s economy upside down. He’s slashed the government — cutting the budget by nearly a third, firing tens of thousands of employees and reducing the number of ministries by more than half. With those cuts and the help of a temporary tax increase, Milei has wiped out the budget deficit. Inflation has plunged from 13% a month to 2.7%.

Forecasters say the country is poised to emerge from recession and grow its economy at a fast pace next year, though it struggles with a high rate of poverty and partly relies on controls on the outflow of capital.

It’s too early to judge …