On September 10, 2025, two countries on opposite sides of the Atlantic found themselves at the heart of a heated debate about how to tackle looming fiscal crises, with Argentina’s President Javier Milei doubling down on radical reform and a new UK movement, Fighting for a Free Future, launching to push Britain in a similar direction. Despite their differences, both nations are wrestling with ballooning debt, shaky markets, and mounting political pressures that have left leaders and citizens alike wondering: is radical reform the only way out?
In Buenos Aires, President Javier Milei faced the music after his government suffered a stinging defeat in key local legislative elections in Buenos Aires Province—a region that accounts for a staggering 40 percent of Argentina's electorate. According to Buenos Aires Times, Milei’s La Libertad Avanza party managed just 33.7 percent of the vote, trailing far behind the opposition Peronist alliance, Fuerza Patria, which secured a commanding 47.2 percent. The loss, coming just weeks before crucial national midterms set for October 26, sent jitters through Argentina’s already fragile markets.
But if anyone thought Milei would blink, they were mistaken. In a defiant social media post on September 10, the president declared, “Just as I stated on Sunday, we will not shift our economic programme by even a millimetre.” He doubled down on his signature plan—fiscal balance, strict limits on money-printing, and a commitment to an exchange-rate band hammered out with the International Monetary Fund. The message was clear: no matter the political cost, the reforms would go on.
Backing Milei up was the IMF itself. Julie Kozack, an IMF spokesperson, posted on X that the Fund was “closely engaged with the Argentine authorities as they implement their programme for entrenching stability and improving the country’s growth prospects.” She added, “We support their commitment to ensure the sustainability of the programme’s FX and monetary framework, as well as their continued adherence to the fiscal anchor and comprehensive deregulation agenda.” The IMF’s continued support is no small thing; Argentina’s US$20-billion program with the Fund, signed in April, has already seen US$14 billion disbursed. The deal restricts government intervention in the currency markets unless the dollar strays outside a band of 975 to 1,470 pesos, with the range nudged monthly by one percent through what officials call "micro-devaluations."
Still, markets were rattled. As Buenos Aires Times reported, Argentine shares listed on Wall Street plunged by as much as 15 percent, and the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange dropped 13 percent in the days following the election. The dollar surged, stabilizing at 1,425 pesos at Banco Nación on September 8 and 9—a 3.26 percent jump compared to the previous Friday. In a notable shift, Milei’s administration intervened in the foreign exchange market to curb the dollar’s rise, even though it hadn’t breached the upper limit of the floating band, a move that raised eyebrows among economic observers.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo echoed the president’s resolve, stating on X, “We will not deviate one iota from the economic programme.” But the government’s troubles didn’t stop at the economy. A political scandal erupted over alleged corruption at the ANDIS national disability agency, with leaked audio implicating Karina Milei, the president’s sister and chief-of-staff, in a bribery scheme involving public procurement for medicine and services for the disabled. A criminal investigation is underway, but the recordings’ authenticity has yet to be verified.
In response to the political headwinds, the ruling party announced the creation of a "national political committee" on September 8, calling for dialogue with Argentina’s powerful provincial governors. Whether this move will help steady the ship remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, the UK is facing a fiscal reckoning of its own. On September 10, Conservative MP Steve Baker launched Fighting for a Free Future (FFF), a movement aimed at dragging the UK’s political debate toward liberty, low taxes, free enterprise, and smaller government. Baker, writing in City A.M., didn’t mince words: “This country stands on the brink of a fiscal crisis unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes.”
The numbers are sobering. The UK faces a projected £41.2 billion shortfall by 2029-30 and a debt-to-GDP ratio nearing 96 percent. Interest payments on government debt have doubled in a single year, now topping £16.4 billion a month. In July alone, the UK paid £7.1 billion just to service its borrowings, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility’s July 2025 Fiscal Risks and Sustainability Report. The OBR warns that without radical reform, UK debt could balloon to a staggering 647 percent of GDP by 2073-74. Even more urgently, the National Insurance Fund—which pays state pensions—is expected to run dry by 2043-44 unless Treasury bailouts are provided, raising the specter of broken promises to future retirees.
Baker blames the crisis not on free markets or runaway capitalism, but on “decades of state overreach, unfunded spending promises and a bipartisan refusal to confront reality.” He points to the Laffer Curve’s hard limits on tax revenue and argues that attempts to plug the gap by raising taxes are already backfiring, with crackdowns on non-doms costing the Treasury billions in lost growth and capital flight. “Can anyone really say that Britain’s problems stem from taxes being too low, the state being too small, government doing too little and there being too few rules and regulations?” he asks pointedly.
Baker’s movement takes inspiration from none other than Argentina. He credits Milei’s radical reforms—cutting government departments, slashing public spending, and refusing to fund the state through currency debasement—with turning Argentina from a “basket case to economic poster child in 18 months.” According to Baker, inflation has fallen from over 200 percent to manageable levels, the first budget surpluses in decades have been posted, and economic optimism is returning. “If that doesn’t prove the case for sound money, small government, and balanced budgets, I don’t know what will,” he writes.
Fighting for a Free Future isn’t just another pressure group, Baker insists. Supported by ten of the UK’s leading free market think tanks and institutions, FFF aims to shift the Overton Window and force honest debate about Britain’s fiscal future ahead of the next general election. The group wants every minister grilled on why taxes are rising and public services are getting worse, and why the government is pretending it can afford its current spending commitments.
For Baker and his allies, the choice is stark: voluntary reform now, or involuntary collapse later. “If Westminster cannot summon the courage to level with the public, an even sharper economic and political reckoning lies ahead,” he warns. The movement’s mission is to make free markets and individual liberty attractive again, restoring self-reliance and dignity to public debate.
Argentina and the UK may differ in history and culture, but both are now case studies in what happens when fiscal reality collides with political inertia. As both countries stand at the crossroads, the world is watching to see whether bold reforms or business as usual will win the day.
In the end, the battle lines are drawn not just over numbers in a ledger, but over the very future of economic freedom and government’s role in society. The coming months may well decide which path these nations—and perhaps others—choose to follow.
