Tag Archives: Venezuela

The State of the Venezuelan Economy (Part 2)

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Two weeks ago, I discussed the state of the Venezuelan economy. Today, I’d like to provide some information about how it got there, and what it might lead to in the future. When Hugo Chavez took power in 1999, he brought in his own ideology that is known as Chavismo. Chavismo is essentially left-wing populism that, like other with other Socialist regimes, is very hostile to private business. Hugo Chavez was president for 14 years, and during that time he implemented a huge number of regulations, taking control of big businesses and centralizing decisions to the government. Small private businesses Continue reading The State of the Venezuelan Economy (Part 2)→

The State of the Venezuelan Economy

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For those of you who may not know, Venezuela is in the midst of a massive economic crisis that is leaving people without basic necessities. Inflation is expected to reach 720%, up from 275% at the end of 2015. GDP has been contracting since 2014. Drought has left the government to rationing out water, and because Venezuela relies on hydroelectric dams to produce much of its energy, the drought has caused power shortages. The government has been running huge budget deficits on social programs that they can no longer afford, as high as 29% of its GDP in 2014. Unemployment is at Continue reading The State of the Venezuelan Economy→

Venezuela’s Crisis

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Since 2005 Latin American countries have seen an increase in economic growth, but now there seems to be a stall in poverty reduction. One country that is experiencing disastrous poverty and inflation rates is Venezuela. The country has been devastated from inflation rates at 140% and a poverty rate that jumped up to 32.1% in 2013. On top of economic distress, the extremely low price of petrol oil has been hurting Venezuela and it is now becoming apparent. Due to this economic decline the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, has increased the price of exported petrol oil from $0.01 to $0.60 Continue reading Venezuela’s Crisis→