A few months ago I wrote a piece for FEE on Argentina's new president, Javier Milei. Milei took on the presidency of Argentina with a particularly pressing challenge: government overspending was driving out-of-control money creation and its by-product—inflation.

Milei's goal was explicit. He promised to cut government largesse. In my article, I argued that his success in doing so would be entirely dependent on his ability to cut down the bureaucracy. To quote the article:

Bureaus have no incentive to stop unsustainable spending habits like we have seen in Argentina. If anything, their existence requires them to prevent reforms that take from their agendas and budgets. There is still work to be done. As noted at the beginning of the piece, this is really just the first step in eliminating the bureaucratic bloat. But it is a necessary first step.

In the United States, we find ourselves in a less urgent situation. Inflation has caused serious distress and harm for some, but our inflation rate is nowhere near the likes of Argentina. However, it is clear that the US is trending in the wrong direction with respect to government spending. The growth of the United States debt accelerated after Covid and is reaching dizzying levels.

If the United States is unable to rein in spending, a future characterized by hyperinflation the likes of Argentina seems likely. What should the newly elected President Trump do to prevent this? To answer this question, we're going to borrow wisdom from a group of thinkers dubbed the Late Scholastics.

This was a group of Catholic thinkers from the 16th and 17th centuries who advised royalty and businessmen in their economic dealings. Much of what I write here will be drawn from Faith and Liberty: The Economic Thought of the Late Scholastics by Alejandro A. Chafuen.

Although the Scholastics were situated in the setting of monarchy, their proposals for reining in government over-spending were targeted at the executive, and, in that sense, their advice is entirely applicable to the US president. The Late Scholastics coalesced around three proposals. Let's look at each one.