Economic Woes Threaten Chavez's Socialist Vision

[hack89]

Source: National Public Radio

Venezuela's economy is in trouble despite the country's huge oil reserves. Blackouts plague major cities. Its inflation rate is among the world's highest. Private enterprise has been so hammered, the World Bank says, that Venezuela is forced to import almost everything it needs.

The situation is creating a serious challenge to President Hugo Chavez's efforts to transform his country into a socialist state.

It's a common experience in Venezuela, where the economy contracted 3.3 percent in 2009 and is expected to shrink further this year. Few business owners see a rosy future, at least in the short term. Jose Guerra, a former Central Bank economist, says state intervention in private businesses is hitting the economy hard. "The government is nationalizing, expropriating, or confiscating," he says. "They are not creating new wealth; this is wealth that was already created."

Read more: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126668465

[marmar]

1. "Guerra, the former Central Bank economist, says the govt must...drop the statist socialist model"

Quelle surprise !!! ..... He reeks of IMF Proxyism.

[hack89]

2. What's wrong with adopting a European socialist model?

Norway or Sweden would be great examples to emulate.

[marmar]

5. Nothing at all.....I'm just questioning Mr. Guerra's motives.

[hack89]

14. Can you questions the facts?

do you have contrary facts?

[marmar]

15. So a capitalist economy that almost entered a depression because of Big Bank hijinks....

...... and had to be rescued by a massive taxpayer bailout (you know, statist socialism for corporations) is a better alternative? I'm not sure which adjective to apply - daft, intellectually dishonest, or blindly stupid.

[hack89]

21. Yet Venezuela still lags all those economies.

state run economies always fail - always. Compare Venezuela's economy to its neighbors - they are becoming the sick man of SA. It doesn't matter how sound your theory is when it is executed by incompetents. Chavez has yet to demonstrate he has a clue how to run a modern economy.

[girl gone mad]

38. We owe our (weak) recovery almost solely to a state run economy.

You can thank China's massive stimulus spending for keeping us from slipping into a severe depression.

[anigbrowl]

121. Uh...China hasn't had a command economy for some time. nt

[ProudDad]

45. He doesn't want to run "a modern economy"

He wants to create a humane, sustainable one...

Instead of the Ponzi scheme, polluting industrial growth economy you seem to favor...

[hack89]

58. I would settle for jobs, low inflation

and money to pay for social services - none of which he seems to be able to do.

There is a reason that every prosperous social democratic country (such as Sweden, Norway, etc) has a vibrant economy based privately owned corporations - it's the only proven way to generate the wealth a humane, sustainable society needs. It's not how the wealth is generated - it is how it is distributed.

[protocol rv]

111. Sorry, dad, but this isn't sustainable

This is a very unsustainable economy we have in Venezuela, and it is also just as polluting as a capitalist economy. I know it's romantic as heck to be Sean Penn and a partime comunist while living in a large home in the US, but reality bites.

[JackRiddler]

122. Capitalism has always failed - all capitalist economies are also...

state-run.

The free market has always been a myth, conveniently trumpeted most whenever it gave advantage to those doing the trumpeting.

Capitalism comes about thanks to state action on behalf of primitive accumulation and state protectionism. Britain industrialized thanks to protectionist measures, and it has been so with every case of industrialization ever since.

Capitalism has always run into massive failures. This is in the nature of its growth imperative, which always hits limits and crisis.

The solution has always involved massive state interventions: wars, pump-priming, industrial subsidies.

The United States disguises a massive publicly subsidized command sector as a "defense department." It's an unaffordable disaster, but the system has run on it and certain dominant interests have prospered on it for many years. The booms since the 1980s especially have very much been thanks to military Keynesianism. The Internet, too: developed by military and public subsidy to the point where profitable businesses could take off. At that point, privatization of the profits began and a bunch of moguls pretended they had invented the whole thing.

Capitalism has produced profits for the private sector only through public sector intervention. Technological development, infrastructure, maintaining the force of law (and protecting property rights), wars for resources and markets -- these costs are borne by the public sector. Health and pollution costs are conveniently externalized or exported. Only by externalizing costs and accepting a variety of subsidies does the "private sector" (increasingly concentrated corporate capital) maintain profitability and its claims of productivity.

[hack89]

23. Venezuela is the only SA economy predicted to shrink in 2010.

even the US economy kept growing during the recession.

The United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean reported that foreign direct investment (FDI) in Venezuela dropped from $349 million in 2008 to negative $3.1 billion last year, “mainly as a result of nationalizations.” Which is what one would expect when the answer to every problem is nationalization.

[boppers]

44. In logic, we call this argument a "False Dilemma"

There are more than two alternatives.

[protocol rv]

114. Indeed

Also, the US economy is in much better shape than the Venezuelan economy. However, if I were you guys, I would get your troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, and learn to regulate oil well drilling :-)

[Unvanguard]

35. Chavez's economic policies do not resemble those of Norway and Sweden

both of which are actually pretty friendly toward private enterprise.

[Robbien]

3. Economic Woes Threaten Capitalists' Vision

What a horribly biased article. Taking quotes from the World Bank and the Central Bank, both who are pissed off royally that Venezuela isn't following their pro-capitalistic agendas.

[Lost4words]

6. the only place democracy has a chance at all is South America

IMO

[hack89]

10. You're kidding!?

just how many stable democracies are there in SA?

[Robbien]

12. The Central Bank and the World Bank are just pissed off

that Venezuela is putting in tighter currency controls. So the two go running off to NPR talking down Venezuela.

Yes, Central Banks are losing the complete control they had over Latin America. LA has a better chance of keeping its middle class than the rest of us pro-capitalistic countries.

[hack89]

13. So the possibility that they simply have no clue how to run an economy

doesn't enter in the equation at all? Centrally run economies fail for many reasons - the biggest one being that it is harder and more complex than any government bureaucrat can ever imagine.

[Robbien]

18. With so many Euro countries on the edge of bankruptcy

and the Euro going down

and US and UK under so much debt

and China and Japan staring at the face of deflation

You're sneering at Latin America?

[hack89]

20. But we don't have to look at the US or Europe to see how bad things are in Venezuela

Simply look at their neighbors. Their economies are thriving - Venezuela is becoming the sick man of South America.

[Robbien]

22. The only people saying things are bad in Venezuela

are the people here in the US.

People in Venezuela are not saying anything like that. The Anti-Chavez cadre (kinda like our tea party gang) spew hatred, but regular folks are going about their daily lives just fine thank you.

[hack89]

26. Look at the central bank of Venezuela inflation reports

they will soon out strip the Congo as the world's highest inflation. Look at the UN's report on direct financial investment which show a $3 billion outflow of private investment from Venezuela. There are hard facts out there that don't come from the US.

[DatManFromNawlins]

28. Save your breath

There's no room for common sense and reality when you can simply wear a Che shirt and daydream about a socialist utopia.

[Robbien]

30. When the choice is

cheerleading the capitalistic elite to the detriment of the middle class

or supporting the common good

The rich gets no support from me. They don't need me, they have you.

[ChangoLoa]

90. delete

[Flaneur]

34. That added absolutely nothing to this discussion.

But thanks for the snark. How's the sweet smell of capitalist oil down there?

[Lost4words]

102. Introducing Milton Friedman!!!!

[Robbien]

29. The Central Bank inflation is due to well-off Venezuelans speculating in dollars

See:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-10/venezuela-may-tighten-foreign-currency-trading-rules-update1-.html

Goldman has their grimy hands all over it.

Unlike the US who loves handing taxpayer cash over to the banksters, Venezuela is trying to fight them.

[hack89]

31. Except your link doesn't say that

Here's a clue - when you depend on imports to feed your country and the world economy uses the dollar, a government that cannot meet local demands for dollars is going to cause economic chaos. Read your link - it specifically says that the reason there is a parallel market for dollars is that the government is unable to meet domestic demands.

[protocol rv]

115. Interesting misunderstanding

Inflation is caused by too many bolivars chasing too few dollars. Some of it is caused by capital flight, a lot of it is caused by the lack of dollars being put in the market by the Central bank.

[naaman fletcher]

64. what a load of bs /nt

[ChangoLoa]

89. Things are going bad in Venezuela right now

I'm a Venezuelan, a public system teacher and a leftist. I don't fit the stereotype you expressed. But the "anti-Chavez" political groups in our country go from the extreme right to the extreme left. The economy contracted severely in the last two trimesters and the inflation was around 4-5% during the last month. So, yes, things are not going well at all in our country right now. Thanks for your concern.

[protocol rv]

118. Things are bad in Venezuela

Why do you think people in Venezuela are not saying things are bad? Here are some articles in English about Venezuela, after you glance at them, please tell us if you still think nobody complains in Venezuela.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/18/hugo-chavez-revolution-corruption-claims

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/world/la-fg-venezuela-chavez-20100504

http://www.poder360.com/article_detail.php?id_article=3583

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/22/chavez-popularity-slips-i_n_329760.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/28/AR2010042805712.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63P05U20100426

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2010/03/03/Venezuelan-crisis-hits-economic-growth/UPI-15401267650061/

http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1843&language=english

[boppers]

46. "sick man" metaphors.

Wow, that takes me back to history of the 30's-40's.

Remind me again what happened in the 30's and 40's of such thinking?

[hack89]

60. Call it what you want - they lag their neighbors significantly

their economy is the only one shrinking.

[Cleobulus]

73. Oh for fuck's sake, Venezuela's economy is NOT centrally run, where do you come up with...

this bullshit? The Venezuelan government has encouraged the development of private co-ops, has nationalized NATIONAL resources, and is trying to diversify the Venezuelan economy.

[ProudDad]

47. More than there are in North America... (n/t)

[Lost4words]

77. the question is how many developing democracies are there in SA

they aren't too stable cause the USA wants them toppled.

read a book for christ sake.

[ronnie624]

94. In the rightist version of history,

no Latin American countries have ever been targets of U.S. interventionism, therefore they should be like Norway and Sweden. There's little hope of reasoning with someone who refuses to accept the foundation for historical reality.

[Lost4words]

101. so you agree with me then,....

[ronnie624]

110. I definitely agree.

Some of the posters here demand Western European style stability in Latin America, but how much stability can one have when there's a superpower nearby who insists on regarding your country as its 'backyard', and invests hundreds of billions in its military and clandestine services to keep it that way?

[Judi Lynn]

104. If they are aware of the truth they can't maintain their political positions! Sad. n/t

[protocol rv]

113. Let me think....

Costa Rica, Chile, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, maybe Colombia?

[protocol rv]

112. LOL

How romantic. I hate being cynical but I'm from South America, and I've lived here most of my life.

[ShortnFiery]

86. +1000.

:thumbsup:

[ChangoLoa]

88. Which Central Bank are you talking about? nt

[laughingliberal]

124. +1 nt

[onehandle]

4. Tick, tock... nt

[Jefferson23]

7. At least they have a socialist vision, we have an advanced oligarchy.

[hack89]

9. Sure - but lets emulate countries like Sweden or Norway

not Venezuela or Cuba.

[Jefferson23]

16. Of course, my point I'm sure you know, is that we are in a mess, such

concentrated wealth. I am disgusted beyond words.

[gorfle]

8. Socialism can never work.

Socialism can never work, because it ignores the basic human nature of desire.

So long as people desire, Socialism cannot work because it requires an enforcer to hold people's desires in check. This never ends well.

[subsuelo]

11. uh huh

:eyes:

[Imajika]

17. Basically correct...

Too much socialism can never work because rather than harnessing human nature, it tries to reject it.

Regulated capitalism with some socialist elements (mixed economy) seem to be the best type of economic model at the moment.

What Chavez is doing is simply doomed to failure. At the rate he is going, even gains Venezuela's poor have made under his rule will be wiped out.

[Ikonoklast]

19. And the poor will feel it first, in a big way.

This will be Hugo's downfall as unrest will arise, and he'll have no one left to blame for it...he's running out of Capitalist Boogeymen.

[proteus_lives]

24. +1

[ProudDad]

48. It's human "nature" to be in community

Socialism gives the Community ownership of the commons...

The definition of Socialism is: a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.

Therefore, Socialism is the NATURAL way to live, the way humans were programmed by evolution to live and thrive...

This brief, 8000 year experiment in dominator hierarchies that are destroying the Earth is what's against human nature and is therefore failing...

That's the real meaning behind the collapse of the capitalist world order.

Sr. Chavez, along with millions of others of us are building lifeboats to survive that failure...

www.transitionus.org

[tammywammy]

52. +1 n/t

[daleo]

36. Capitalism can never work

Capitalism can never work, because it ignores the basic human nature of cooperation.

So long as people desire cooperation, Capitalism cannot work because it requires an enforcer to restrain people's desire to cooperate. This never ends well.

[gorfle]

66. "basic human nature of cooperation?

Are you serious? All of human history has been the struggle of people to get ahead of their neighbors. Even if you can get some people to cooperate, there is always someone who won't, and that brings down the whole system.

Desire drives all of man's actions. Desire for food, shelter, sex, material goods. There are always people willing to screw over others to satisfy their desires. It requires an authority to keep the people's desires in check. This power will always be abused. This is why Socialism can't work.

[daleo]

68. Thanks for repeating your original oversimplifications

It's so much less persuasive the second time around.

[gorfle]

82. There's only so many ways to say the truth.

.

[bemildred]

69. Socialism is fairly recent?

Abuse of power is not? Maybe nothing works, but then why pick on socialism? I mean Capitalism doesn't work either, in those terms. What have we got to lose?

[gorfle]

83. I'm not debating the merits of capitolism.

I'm not debating the merits of capitolism. At least it harnesses greed.

Socialism ignores it.

[bemildred]

100. Quite right, better not to attempt it.

If the best thing about "capitolism" is that it "harnesses greed", your argument is sure to go downhill from there.

However, I was pointing out that your Hobbesian depiction of human nature says nothing specific about socialism, it just suggests that enough humans will always be swine to prevent the rest of us from any social or political advancement. You may be right about your own moral capabilities, but I can assure you that you have no right to speak for the rest of us about what we might be capable of that you are not.

[gorfle]

105. You need to study history.

If the best thing about "capitolism" is that it "harnesses greed", your argument is sure to go downhill from there.

At least I have one.

However, I was pointing out that your Hobbesian depiction of human nature says nothing specific about socialism, it just suggests that enough humans will always be swine to prevent the rest of us from any social or political advancement. You may be right about your own moral capabilities, but I can assure you that you have no right to speak for the rest of us about what we might be capable of that you are not.

Someone needs to study a little history.

History suggests that humans have always been selfish, desire-driven "swine". Do you have any evidence to suggest any wide-scale change in this regard?

[bemildred]

107. LOL.

I see I annoyed you.

Since you have claimed that you speak for History, why not throw in the deity? "God made us all selfish, desire-driven swine, and we are helpless to contradict him." We could make it a dogma and punish unbelievers. With a little luck you could extort money from people.

:popcorn:

[gorfle]

108. I don't believe in deities.

I don't believe in deities or hokey religions - like socialism believers.

[Cleobulus]

74. If that were true, humans would have went extinct millenia ago...

there are good evolutionary reasons why people cooperate, if we didn't, we never would have survived the hunter/gatherer stage.

[Hannah Bell]

78. "It requires an authority to keep the people's desires in check." - & capitalism doesn't?

last i heard the US had more people in prison than any country in the world. Also more soldiers in more countries, not to mention private soldiers.

Don't even get me started about all the various spy agencies & police forces, & all the various kinds of surveillance going on.

How do you tell the difference between this "desire-checking" & any other?

And where, beyond the basic drives to have a full belly & a warm spot to sleep -- do "desires" come from?

How come northwest coast indians competed -- to give things away?

wtf does "desire" mean, anyway?

[gorfle]

84. I don't know.

"It requires an authority to keep the people's desires in check." - & capitalism doesn't?

Of course it does. All civilized societies have laws that must be enforced.

But in a capitalist system, people are generally allowed to control how hard they work to obtain whatever they desire. It's the natural state of humanity. Socialism runs counter to this.

And where, beyond the basic drives to have a full belly & a warm spot to sleep -- do "desires" come from?

It's part of the human condition. Since the beginning of time man has always desired things. Money. Sex. Power.

How come northwest coast indians competed -- to give things away?

Who? Guess that proves my point.

wtf does "desire" mean, anyway?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=desire

[Hannah Bell]

95. well, that explains everything. desire to give everything away = desire to keep everything

= desire = anything = desire = nothing.

[gorfle]

97. Unable to parse.

I have no idea what you are trying to say.

[tabasco]

103. People that squawk that bullshit

are usually the ones most reliant on others.

[gorfle]

106. I've come to the conclusion.

I'm thankful for this thread.

It has made me see that people who believe in "socialism" are just as misguided as people who believe in any sort of religion. It's useless to have a reasonable discussion on the subject because reason is not part of what developed their belief system in the first place.

You folks go on enjoying your socialist fantasies where everyone gets along and shares with no regard for greed, all overseen by a benevolent benefactor who simply facilitates making sure everyone is content.

If it brings you comfort to believe in such things, more power to ya.

[Unvanguard]

37. Every society "requires an enforcer to hold people's desires in check."

Socialism just does it in the service of working people instead of in the service of the employers.

[murdoch]

40. I desire the new Porsche I see in the showroom window

I don't have the money to buy it though.

I guess if I went in to drive it away without paying, the salesmen would try to stop me. If I fought them off, I'm sure the police would stop me.

Then again, my needs are taken care of. I have been reading stories lately of people laid off from their jobs or evicted from their homes who have killed the bosses and police offers who fired or evicted them. They desired a job or roof over their head, the system denied it to them, so they took action into their own hands.

[bitchkitty]

43. Ooooooooooooooh so deep.

Honestly, you guys need to stop. Just stop.

People desire food. They desire shelter. They desire proper health care. But you think that the power of plastic trinkets and iPods trump those basic human needs and wants. Hey, we're starving, but we got Coca Cola!

That's so fucking ignorant that it's shocking.

[gorfle]

67. that's not what I'm saying at all.

People desire many things. Food. Shelter. Sex. Material goods. Throughout human history there are those who will do anything to satisfy their desires. All it takes is one to bring down a socialist system. That's why socialism can't work. Because even if you get a million people all willing to work for each other all it takes is one person not willing to play along and they destroy the system. Especially since the people keeping everyone else in line usually end up having no problem sating their desires.

[Selatius]

76. Well, humans have been around far longer than recorded history.

The only reason humans got as far as they have was because they basically understood that cooperation and sharing were better enablers to survival than exploiting one another.

[gorfle]

85. Nice lack of evidence you have to present.

For all you know the reason humans got as far as they got BECAUSE THEY FUCKED OVER EVERYONE ELSE TO SURVIVE.

Based on what I've seen of humanity, I'm far more inclined to believe that than some kumbaya cooperative.

[Selatius]

109. Funny. I guess Native Americans didn't live in tribes and pool resources.

Dumbass me didn't think to point at a fucking anthropology book.

[Hannah Bell]

79. no, it takes more than one. because people will kill or ostracise just one psycho,

but when a bunch of them take over the shop, it's more difficult to get rid of them.

[bitchkitty]

96. Oh, just stop it.

Stop believing everything you read in the newspaper, and definitely don't believe whatever fucking history books you've been reading.

I have lived in Socialist countries. And you know what? There were restaurants. There were movie theaters. There were department stores. There was even a freaking Burger King. There were no soldiers with machine guns standing around waiting to restrict liberties. That's an asinine idea you have.

Socialism DOES work. It works so well that it scares the piss out of the Capitalist powers that be, who fill the population with fear and lies to keep them from recognizing the truth. And the truth is that CAPITALISM does not work. Pursuit of happiness is all very well and good, but if it's at the expense of others it's nothing more than selfishness and greed.

[EFerrari]

87. LOL

[bemildred]

25. Yawn. nt

[hack89]

27. Don't think the people of Venezuela are yawning as they sit hungry in the dark.

But the human cost is worthy collateral damage to ensure ideological purity.

[ProudDad]

50. You sure don't know shit about Venezuela, do you...(n/t)

[hack89]

61. I suspect I know just as much as you do - perhaps more. nt

[bemildred]

65. Enjoy your self-referential worldview, while it lasts. nt

[robcon]

32. Gee, ya think?

No investment, no growth.

[Doctor_J]

33. Too bad our economic woes haven't put our monopolist vision in jeopardy

I wondre if Venezuela's version of NPR runs pieces by Galbraith, Chomsky, and Hedges

[boppers]

49. "I wondre if Venezuela's version of NPR"....

Their media is different than our media. They *require* that government propaganda runs on all media.

No propaganda, no license.

[elias49]

54. What?? No CNN in Venezuela? nt

[boppers]

55. CNN can totally run.

They just have to also run "El Presidente", where Chavez gets to talk.

[Cleobulus]

72. Never heard of that as far as I now "El Presidente" is only run on the ONE...

public station. So can the lies, ok?

[ChangoLoa]

91. Pro-govt publicities are mandatory in Venezuelan TVs

You people are talking about "Alo Presidente", right? Alo Presidente is his 7-8 hour weekly program, not the pro-govt adds on TV nor the mandatory live transmissions.

And yes, those pro-govt publicities are mandatory for Venezuelan TV stations... all of them except foreign cable stations such as CNN. National cable stations have to put them on air too.

On edit: And you need to add the mandatory transmissions or 'cadenas" where the president himself talks without any time regulations whenever he decides to (once every 2 days + or -). Those have to be transmitted by all TV stations too.

[boppers]

98. Thank you for the correction. nt

[Cleobulus]

117. Not pro-government, but independent, I wish people would understand the difference..

and they get 25% of air time! Holy shit, its like a, what was it called? Fairness Doctrine in Venezuela, ooooh the HORROR!

[ChangoLoa]

125. Sorry, not independent productions but mandatory publicities made by Ministry of Information

Ministerio del Poder Popular para la Comunicación y la Información (Minci)

You're talking about something different that exists too. I'm talking about mandatory publicities made by the Government (Minci) and diffused by all national TV stations.

[Doctor_J]

57. So how is that different from ours?

Every station that comes in on my radio runs right-wing propaganda. Same with my TV.

[boppers]

59. They aren't required.

In my neck of the woods, left wing radio stations aren't *required* to run government media.

Thus, we have Pacifica, and Air America.

[Cleobulus]

75. Prove it. n/t

[Psephos]

51. Chavez has a staff of 200 people just to manage his Twitter account.

His tweets aren't known for their political heterogeneity. Nor are his five-days-a-week Aló Presidente radio and TV broadcasts (live radio 4 days, TV show on Thursdays).

Media is seen as an instrument of government in the Vz system.

[boppers]

62. How many does Obama have? Putin?

I'm curious.

[Psephos]

119. For all media, Obama officially has 60, but probably more like 300 unofficially.

No specific word on how many in the WH media operation are devoted to Twitter, but tweets are a minor part of the effort and it follows that staff allocations specifically for Twitter are correspondingly minor.

I found the reports of 200 staffers working on Twitter for Chavez surprising, especially considering the size of Vz. However, direct state participation in media is the norm in Vz, so who can say?

As for Putin, the only thing that is certain is that whatever the "official" number is, it's wrong.

I'm basing the Obama numbers on this article:

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/14/94191/white-house-message-machinery.html

[murdoch]

39. The only country in the world having economic problems is Venezuela

With (at least) three dead in Greece and national strikes, massive austerity there and an economy that will be sunk for many years to come, with 10%+ unemployment in the US nationwide and so on and so forth...

The thing to talk about is about how Venezuela is having economic problems as well?

He says socialism has to be dismantled. When are we going to have control ended of Goldman Sachs which ripped off Americans and then had taxpayers bail them out? Or BP platforms polluting the ocean? or Massey mines collapsing on their workers? And so on...

Capitalism needs to be dismantled. The means of production controlled by those who work at them. Idle class screwups who didn't work a day in their life until they were 40, like George W. Bush and that whole crowd, need to go. Obama needs to stop following their lead on so many issues.

[EFerrari]

41. The World Bank is concerned

becauase, Chavez, Morales, Correa and others are trying to get it out of South America. The World Bank can kiss off.

[girl gone mad]

56. Socialism is only bad when it benefits the little people..

get it?

Corporate communism and oligarchical collectivism are just fanfuckingtastick to these Chavez haterz. Endless bailouts for the wealthy on the backs of the working poor and central banks that keep those working people poor are just dandy. But try to manage your economy in a way that helps provide a level playing field and these idiots will start shrieking about "failed socialism".

[boppers]

63. Nothing is more hilarious to me...

Than somebody who is rich and powerful enough to rant about "oligarchy" on an internet forum.

[bitchkitty]

42. Ah, here we go.

It's been a while since anyone posted a Chavez hit piece. I was getting worried, afraid all the ACMs got fired. Thankfully their kids can eat now.

[unkachuck]

53. hang in there, Hugo....

....you've got the oil and it's as good as gold....

"Few business owners see a rosy future,"

....there ain't no 'rosy future' anywhere....

[Prometheus Bound]

70. Well they did better than the UK, Germany, Japan, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Italy

Finland, Russia and many more, and were just a percentage point behind the US and Canada.

So relatively speaking, they didn't do that badly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(real)_growth_rate

[hack89]

92. Their inflation will soon top 30 percent

their economy is predicted to shrink this year. They have a mess on their hands.

[Cleobulus]

116. Everyone's economies are predicted to shrink this year...

yeah, no shit, this is a worldwide recession, also Venezuela's currency may be overvalued.

[hack89]

120. No - the global forecast is 9 percent growth

Venezuela is moving in the opposite direction than all of its neighbors.

Recession does not necessarily mean that economies shrink - the US economy didn't shrink for example. The growth rate was very low but even in the worst of times it was still growing.

[Cleobulus]

71. My question is why the hell they keep on talking about private enterprise being hammered...

don't private co-ops count as free enterprise?

[ellie]

80. I saw this headline

and had to click on it. And hey! The usual suspects are here. It's like a party.

[hack89]

93. Of course - for many routine is very important !

:)

[hunter]

81. NPR is the FOX news for people who think they are too smart for FOX news.

Same propaganda, a more sophisticated flavor. Olive Garden, not some burger chain.

I guess they couldn't use this hit piece at Fox because it used too many big words. I mean what the hell does "expropriating" mean? It sounds sorta dirty.

[Judi Lynn]

99. Beautiful line, one to remember, certainly! "NPR if UR 2 smart 4 Fox"

What a bitter discovery that has been for so many trusting people.

[Kringle]

123. 7.7 Bolivars to the dollar .nt