The economic meltdown under the moronic Chavez-Maduro government in Venezuela is now moving toward an impressive milestone: hitting an estimated inflation rate of 1,000,000% by the end of the year. According to the International Monetary Fund, the hyperinflation devastating the country will continue — making the currency little more than decorative elements in an economy reduced to a barter system. Socialists have now taken one of the most successful economies in the region and returned most people back to a subsistence existence.
Maduro is widely viewed as an economic dolt who is increasingly turning to the military to sustain the existence of his failed government. He has repressed the press and political dissidents while praising authoritarian governments like Cuba.
The historical analogy in the hyper-inflation is easy and worrisome. In the 1920s, the Weimer Republic allowed hyperinflation to gut the value of its currency, which was used for wallpaper as a cheaper material than actual wallpaper. People would go to the bread store with wheelbarrows of cash. The meltdown led to the rise of national socialist Adolph Hitler.
The problem is that Venezuala is now pulling down its neighbors with hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing the country.
Hugo Chavez once ominously warned that “there is no turning back.” He might be right as the country lurched toward a 1,000,000 inflation rate.
Reblogged this on AGR Daily 60 Second News Bites.
I keep trying to post a comment but it won’t go through…
Let me try copying and pasting it:
Ain’t Socialism Grand?
Forget about the politicians. All I care about are the starving people suffering under this oft repeated experiment. Yes, they are all equal now, equally starving. 90% of Venezuelans don’t have enough money to buy food and the nation has lost an average of 40 pounds.
There is no reason for these people to starve, especially the kids and babies. But its leaders will not accept aid and admit defeat.
Many months ago I read an article about a skeletal boy and his gaunt Grandpa who had given some of their meals to help keep his younger brother alive. They looked bad. Real bad. Hollow expressionless eyes and skeletal frames. That was months ago. Whatever happened to them?
I wish we had airdropped food. I doubt the Venezuelan army would have mobilized to block this. We could have dropped pallets of food, clean drinking water, and medicine, bound in tape that reads, “Brought to you by Capitalism, Democracy, and Individual Liberty.”
What happened to that big brother? I hate this.
I don’t know what happened but I restored it.
Thanks!
Hey Alexandria O. Cortez..got a country that fits your warped politics….Venezuela. They may be looking for a new dictator soon…maybe Hillary could help you out. She knows sooooo much about socialism helping the people. Think about it…really hard like ok?
This is what SOCIALISM looks like…..
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Mister President! Build Up That Wall! I am talking to you Mister Trump. Build that Wall. We can pay for it. We can withdraw from Afghanistan and pay for lots of things. We can let the European countries in Europe defend themselves from Russia. Get out of NATO. Pull out now like your father should have.
THIS IS A MAP OF THE SHADOW DEEP STATE GOVERNMENT:
http://www.wethepeoplereport.com/deep-state-map/
Even Matilda could run Venezuela better than Maduro.
The government is going to give me free stuff and take care of me from cradle to grave. What could go wrong? Politicians would always put my interests first.
The meltdown led to the rise of national socialist Adolph Hitler.
Hjalmar Schacht orchestrated the introduction of a new currency and the stabilization of prices at the beginning of 1924. Hitler’s party remained unimportant for the next six years. You had a series of stressors which generated a constituency for the Nazi Party. It was only the last – the Depression and attendant unemployment – which was decisive. The median performance of the Nazi Party and affiliates over the 9 federal parliamentary elections held in Germany during the Weimar Republic was 6.5% of the vote. There was no analogue of note to the Nazi Party prior to 1917 or after 1945.
Another failed experiment, Socialism!
To contrast with the success of the People’s Republic of China and the adequacy of the so-called communist governments of Vietnam and Laos.
Success in Vietnam, Laos, and China? Civil liberties are important so I call bs on this one.
It’s quite easy to sit in on a pedestal, put on the blinders, and delude oneself of the realities of idealizing socialist states to conform to a political agenda.
What do liberals profess they hold in high regard? Among them is economic equality, freedom of expression (formerly), due process, restrained government (formerly), and others. None of this exists in China, Vietnam or Laos, to the degree as it does in the United States. In these three nations, elites run the roost and those in rural areas live with third-world like opportunities.
The Chinese government also exacts reprisals against religious minorities and it is often measured as a matter of degree to nearly all of them.
If these countries are so wonderful, how about moving to each and living as a working class citizen. If you are honest with yourself you would be quite upset with your situation. Just don’t complain too much or you might find yourself in prison.
The success of the Chinese model has incorporated permission for private enterprise, foreign investment, and decentralization of decision-making in the realm of production. No East Bloc economy (ca. 1970) resembled China’s today. By way of example, in 1999, state-owned enterprises accounted for about 68% of the book value of Chinese firms. By 2009, that had fallen to 44%.
Spastics — So the authoritarian government of the PRC is 44% socialist.
What do liberals profess they hold in high regard?
The enhancement of what Alvin Gouldner called the ‘new class’ as producers of regulatory architectures and generators of the conceptions of value uttered in public fora. The Democrats are the party of the teachers’ unions, the trial lawyers and Hollywood (along with academe, the social work and mental health trade, and the media).
Darren Smith — In the PRC nobody starves, unlike before 1949. It is the case that some rural peoples are quite poor but visit some West Virginia “hallers” before making comparisons.
The PRC is certain illiberal but outside of Hong Kong almost no one cares. They prefer their vacations to go walking over glass bridges.
There is more to life than not “starving: (A common liberal claim about millions of people in the United States). You get fed in prison for doing something the Chinese government dislikes, something that would be completely legal in the United States and most Western Nations.
Yeah nobody cares. Tell that to those who dissent there, and the others too fearful to complain.
And for that matter where did I in my comment mention starvation? I didn’t but you decided to deflect and avoid the arguments I made by importing the notion of starvation into the forum. But I can understand given your nostalgic musings of the cornucopia of blessings bequeathed of socialism exacted upon the population of China. It’s an old story: “From each according to his ability, for each according to his needs”. But I say that Man cannot live by bread alone. And even that dignity was debased by communists and oppressive socialist governments by shortages of bread and waiting in line for some stale loaves. So since you wanted to bring food into the discussion, there you go.
Darren Smith, you mentioned 3rd world countries in connection with the rural poor in China. I tried to point out that that is wrong. In China nobody goes hungry any longer — I should have stated since the end of the Great Leap Forward. That is in contradistinction to the current situation in several 3rd world countries.
And yes, despite ttheir constitution freedom of expression is sorely lacking in the PRC.
Of course, all this is to contrast with Venezuela, where people are fleeing and the rest are forced to barter.
Mr. Benson.
I see your point in the first paragraph.
I agree with you that for the general population of most of China their station in life is certainly better than that of Venezuela, though the predominantly Muslim areas in the East the repression borders on what the international community should condemn as crimes against humanity. Authoritarianism encapsulated within any economic format expressed in a country negates whatever benefits are afforded by that format.
Darren Smith — My reading of history indicates to me that people with empty bellies, watching their children starve, will disagree with your last sentence.
For a generalization, read Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
You have no idea of what real socialism is. The dogma of capitalism has rotted your brain to the point that you, like tens of millions of dim, duped and deluded Americans have for generations voted against your and their best interest. I will repeat with emphasis you have no phooky idea. You’re a successful experiment in stupefaction about which you are soooo proud to exhibit.
thescepticalcynic — Yes, the US lacks a communitarian spirit as is found in parts of Europe. Perhaps that is a price for having an entrepeneurial and inventive spirit.
I think this will appear in the Ocasio ads. Will make for an interesting campaign.
At this rate, Maduro will be able to boast that Venezuela has more “millionaires” per capita than any other country in the world.
Very good article Sir, I am going to reblog this one for you.
Yes, Venezuela is socialist in that the government owns the means of production; to wit, the crude oil industry. By that criterion Saudi Arabia is a socialist country as well.
The major problem is that it is an oil state. The majority of oil states are corrupt and unresponsive to the needs of the citizenry. As examples other than Venezuela, look at Basra in Saudi Arabia and the chaos in both Libya and Nigeria.
But yes, the government of Venezuela is particularly bad. In comparison Cuba is competently managed but then Cuba is not an oil state.
No. They were a vassel state of the Soviet Union and since then they have become what they were under Batista. Except with more drugs. And they are becoming a small oil state with oil wells going in off the NW tip of the island.
The USA owns part of that new field. Cuba the rest. Both the Castro Brothers were millionaires many times over and Raul continues. But they have control and do not pay socialist mystical fantasy games.
More like a Mafia. Raul and Che between them after a series of lengthy 60 second trials executed in the thousands and sent tens of thousands to the Ise of Pines. The Caribbean Gulag.But they have never been self sustaining. Russian support or Cartel support. And in the end ….
I wonder if Ocasio is that much of a true believer like Bernie?
Libya was doing quite nicely before the war criminal Manchurian MAU-MAU and The Hildebeast decided to
“improve things” and relieve the country of 143 tonnes of gold, destroy to most fantastic irrigation system on the planet, and aid and abet in the brutal murder of Gaddafi. The country is still in chaos BUT within just a couple of months of the blood bath for which this “freedom loving country”(I just threw up in my mouth) it had a PRIVATE banking system up and running!!!
I think she is a true believer, for the simple reason that she doesn’t know any better. It’s Bernie who is suspicious in his apparent ignorance.
You are actually selling Cuba ? Really ?
No one would offer Saudi Arabia or any oil state as a pinnacle of excellence, but even the worst other oil state is a paragon of success compared to Venezeuala.
As Turley notes Madora/Chavez have taken just about the most wealthy nation in South American and turned it into a basket case third world country in a few years.
Over the same time period that Cuba has doubled real GDP the DR has increased it 5 fold and the US has increased 8 fold
The major problem is that it is an oil state.
The resource curse is a problem. The thing is, Norway, Russia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Algeria, Azerbaijan, and Brunei are also sitting atop natural resource bonanzas. None are generating scads of refugees and none are suffering consumer price inflation exceeding 7% per annum. Because some people are just better at what they do than are others.
In comparison Cuba is competently managed but then Cuba is not an oil state.
The Maddison Project has provided helpful data on historical per capita product. In a set of 9 Caribbean countries, Cuba ranked 4th in 1958 and ranks 7th today (ahead of the 8th ranking country by 10%). Among a (partially overlapping) set of 20 Latin American countries, Cuba ranked 6th in 1958 and 16th today. Cuba is also the most politically retrograde country in the hemisphere and one of three seriously repressive governments in the hemisphere. The other two are Venezuela and Nicaragua, in case you’re searching for patterns.
Emulate Cuba? Sounds like a plan…
Cuba is also sitting on a stockpile of 1950s cars, many in surprisingly good condition. American baby-boomer retirees can give the Cuban economy a boost just by buying them up.
Jay S.,
I’ve often wondered about the national wealth of Cuba IF you include the value all of those old, classic cars.
There was a great PBS documentary , YANK TANKS, about all of those great old cars in Cuba.
I went to a big estate action of a well-known area farmer, and collector.
There was a rumor that Jay Leno had sent a representative to bid on some of the cars for him, but I don’t think that was every verified.
There was a pristine 1952 Chevy, 3 speed on the column, probably a 215 or 235 straight 6.
I told my wife that was exactly the same kind if car that I learned to drive on.
We went on toba neighboring town to do some shopping, and visit friends.
On the drive back home, we see that ’52 Chevy tooling down the highway in the oncoming lane.
I never did hear what it sold for, but given the number of serious bidders, it likely fetched a very good price when it was sold.