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Comment by JavierFlores09 | Hacker News Reader

> If he made such a blunder in finance which supposedly is one of his specialties just imagine how incompetent he and most of the government right now is on other matters.

This is a hasty generalization; while I agree on the fact that Milei was incompetent in promoting a memecoin as a financial instrument, that doesn't necessarily mean he is a bad economist all of the sudden, nor that the things he has done for Argentina are inherently bad, it just means he was incompetent on this matter. I am painfully aware of how divided the country is on the current government and its actions, however that doesn't invite sweeping judgments based on a single event. Criticism should be specific and supported by broader evidence rather than assuming total incompetence from one mistake.

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How would he not be? If he did zero due diligence on this and then pitched it to his countrymen as an investment. Incredibly poor judgement no?

And not only as an investment, but as one that can lead to the salvation of the country...

Finance, Dealmaking and Economics are vastly different fields. Just because one is bad at one of them doesn't mean they can't be good at the others.

It's pretty bad, but smart people do stupid things all the time. Hopefully he learns from this mistake. And as pointed out, it does not automatically make all his prior decisions bad - we can actually analyse them each on their individual merit.

>>smart people do stupid things all the time

That may explain it but it does NOT excuse it or the consequences.

Smart people are also supposed to consider the consequences of their actions a bit more deeply than dumb people, and leaders are supposed to surround themselves with even smarter and more broadly experienced advisers to alert them to potential stupid actions and so moderate their actions to avoid harming others (as well as harming their own reputation or standing).

>>Hopefully he learns from this mistake. ...

Right: so just let smart people with a lot of power make whatever mistakes come along that damage others but face zero consequences for them beyond "we hope they learn".

That is an excuse for keeping incompetent autocrats or oligarchs in power, not a plan for a sustainable and growing complex society.

Milei should face whatever consequences apply in his country to any person loudly promoting a fraud with a large platform. But he probably will not, Such a lack of consequences should be recognized as a wrong, not merely dismissed with a shrug.

Sheesh

> Milei should face whatever consequences apply in his country to any person loudly promoting a fraud with a large platform. But he probably will not, Such a lack of consequences should be recognized as a wrong, not merely dismissed with a shrug.

It will probably be dismissed.

The judiciary in Argentina is largely at the beck and call of Milei's political godfather, former president Mauricio Macri, who uses them to put pressure on his political enemies (largely kirchnerismo), and also makes them quietly drop most lawsuits against him or his allies.

Now, to be clear, it's Macri (not Milei) who has the courts in his pocket, and lately they have a strained relationship, because Macri wants better positions in government for his cadres, while Milei is instead poaching them for his own party. So it's very likely this whole mess will be just a way for Macri to remind Milei who's who, and get a few favors, after which the whole thing will go away.

I'd love to be wrong about this, and for Milei to face the music, but I don't think I'm wrong.

Sadly, I don't think you are wrong either.

>while I agree on the fact that Milei was incompetent in promoting a memecoin as a financial instrument, that doesn't necessarily mean he is a bad economist all of the sudden

Worse. He's a terrible leader. Which is a bad trait for someone who leads a country.

You mean a very active Twitter user who is all about cutting government inefficiency didn't know repercussions of his tweet? It was up for 5 hours. By then damage was done. People with large loses have sued and are getting their money back directly from the scammers. How crazy is this

> that doesn't necessarily mean he is a bad economist all of the sudden

Define bad, I'm sure the insiders who made millions selling Libra at the right time don't consider him bad. If he was involved in the scam, it wasn't a bad financial decision from his point of view (just a stupid political decision). Argentinian entrepeneurs don't consider him bad. Those waiting in line at the soup kitchens probably see it differently...

With (a previous to this event) 56% approval rating,

> Those waiting in line at the soup kitchens probably see it differently...

At least half those guys also approve of him. Thanks to his government's policies of reducing inflation and removing middlemen out of social assistance, those people can afford to sustain themselves, and poverty has gone back down to around 37% according to several private economists/universities.

I keep seeing these numbers being thrown around about inflation improving and poverty decreasing in argentina, but then i also read articles about the increasing poverty rates and diminishing of social welfare for the poorest segments of society. I don't live there so I can't say first hand, but this latest move by milei surely made my opinion on him settle on the "not a good guy for the people"

I live in Argentina and you're right.

Milei is not good for the people, and the inflation numbers are highly misleading because the cost in dollars is very high in Argentina right now. Plenty of people losing their jobs, factories closing (some with decades of existence in Argentina), plenty of people begging on the streets.

A lot of people who support him do so out of antiperonist feelings (which has a very strong tradition in Argentina), even as he makes their lives harder or they have to close their businesses due to Milei-induced crises.

I mean, there's such a thing as extending the benefit of the doubt too far, tbh. Presuming he wasn't in on it, if he's promoting stuff like this he's likely barely capable of managing his own finances, let alone a country's.

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