Is socialism to blame for Venezuela's plight?

[SWE]

No, capitalism is.

[they don't love you like i love you]

No, its being reliant on one particular, economically volatile resource, and having incompetent strongman-style socialism.

Other countries that have "socialism" of a sort (at least to American eyes) are more competent with their economies; Sweden, Norway, even Germany or France.

And Stefan Molyneux is a cultish hack who became an alt-right Trumpist as soon as he felt his audience was slipping away from his wacky anarcho-capitalist views.

Any serious discussion of socialism should not include places only dumb Americans consider socialist. Sweden and Norway have indisputable free market economies. France and Germany WTF? They have some of the most free market economies in the world.

Of course citing Stefan Molyneux (LOL) and comparing Venezuela to Bernie Sanders is far dumber.

[dead0man]

No, its being reliant on one particular, economically volatile resource, and having incompetent strongman-style socialism.

Other countries that have "socialism" of a sort (at least to American eyes) are more competent with their economies; Sweden, Norway, even Germany or France.

And Stefan Molyneux is a cultish hack who became an alt-right Trumpist as soon as he felt his audience was slipping away from his wacky anarcho-capitalist views.

Any serious discussion of socialism should not include places only dumb Americans consider socialist. Sweden and Norway have indisputable free market economies. France and Germany WTF? They have some of the most free market economies in the world.

Of course citing Stefan Molyneux (LOL) and comparing Venezuela to Bernie Sanders is far dumber.

indeed


At least we finally all agree Chavez was bad news, it took some of you awhile to come around, but we're all a bit stubborn sometimes.

[🦀🎂🦀🎂]

.

Basically Chávez was an economic simpleton. It may be useful to compare Chavez with Evo Morales or Rafael Correa - two individuals who can justifiably be criticised for being authoritarianian Caudillos like Chavez, but y'know they do actually understand economics. Venezuela's reliance on price controls, in particular, would be recommended by no serious economist, left or right, but Chavez and his lackeys relied on them anyway.

And yes, there is the curse of the fossil fuels. In this respect Chavezonomics is no different from the orthodox Republican positon (We can rely on resource extraction forever! It's not like commodity prices go down ever!) so rightists on this board should not be smug.

[nolesfan2011]

Yes, but the economy and the oil industry was also mismanaged, and that could happen anywhere. If Saudi Arabia ran their oil industry like Venezuela did they would have the same problem

[Arturo Belano]

No, it's a mix of over-reliance on petroleum along with currency controls. Venezuela's fixed exchange rate system and the resulting black market for currency turned a small inflationary spike into the hyperinflation we see today. And it's a misnomer to call Venezuela a socialist country, especially since the vast majority of the economy is privately owned.

[Tetro Kornbluth]

While this is even worse than prior circumstances this isn't exactly the first time Venezuela has found itself in this situation.