Buenos Aires, Argentina – Late last month, Argentinian President Javier Milei uploaded a characteristically odd photo on social media. It showed him posing with his cabinet behind a golden chainsaw – a callback to the campaign prop Milei wielded at rallies to punctuate his support for spending cuts. An accompanying caption read: “The best government in history.”

That bravado may still prove premature but, for now, Milei’s supporters say he has delivered on at least some of his promises – even if many Argentinians are suffering the consequences.

In his first year of his presidency, Milei’s commitment to a draconian fiscal adjustment has begun to change a country that was prone to economic stagnation and runaway inflation, driven by years of wild money-printing that paid for government deficits.

A self-described anarcho-capitalist, Milei revved-up his chainsaw immediately upon taking office, quickly moving to slash spending, eliminate government ministries and fire hundreds of bureaucrats.

In tandem, pensions and public salaries were held down, cutting their real value, and public infrastructure projects were scrapped.