The Venezuela Case Study In How Not To Help The Poor

[Zorro]

Venezuela under Chavez and now Maduro is an interesting case study in how not to go about trying to aid the poor. What they’ve done is interfered with market signals in an attempt to make certain items cheaper for the poor to purchase. The net effect has been that these same items are now unavailable to anyone at all. Unless they’re actually trying to run a cult of enforced consumer denial, something I rather doubt, their policies are therefore not having the desired effect. The interesting question is why?

I don’t, many people, don’t worry quite as much about inequality as do many on the left. That’s OK, be a boring world if we all thought the same. However I’m entirely willing to agree that trying to make life better for the poor is not an ignoble goal: it’s one I share actually, however much I might be fairly dry in how we go about doing so. But can we agree that a policy which creates a nationwide shortage of toilet paper, a policy intended originally to make toilet paper more affordable to the poor, is not a policy that has worked?

In fact, can we agree that the basic policies being followed in Venezuela simply don’t work at all?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/08/24/the-venezuela-case-study-in-how-not-to-help-the-poor/

[tblue37]

1. Maybe use the excerpt tag to clarify that these words are not

your comments on the article, but rather a passage from the article itself.

Since you actually don't add any commentary of your own, without some sort of clear sign most readers are going to assume those are your words rather than part of the article.

Oh, sure, they will see that it is the article if they click the link, but a lot of people don't click the links in OPs.

[Zorro]

3. I think most readers will understand it is an excerpt from the linked article

but thanks for your suggestion, anyway.

[daleanime]

4. I have to agree with Blue...

I had bookmarked for later reading, bedtime you know, and wouldn't have realized until later.

[Marksman_91]

2. This is the kind of stuff that happens if you have a bunch on uneducated nicompoops running the show

Maduro and most of the cabinet are not well-versed whatsoever in the most basic of economics. Hell, Maduro himself doesn't have any kind of academic formation. Add this to the fact that most of the top people in the Chavista regime used to have jack shit before being in politics are now swimming in easy cash thanks to their political positions, and you've got a recipe for corruption and incompetence that is bound to take the rest of the country with it. There is no "socialism" in Venezuela. Considering all the oil revenue it has and will have, the nation should be one of the, if not the, most developed and progressive country in Latin America. Every single other nation in the region is not at all implementing the same idiotic and self-destructive policies that are being implemented by Chavismo because those other leaders have at least enough brains to know that they would just lead the country to ruin. The only reason why they keep supporting (supposedly) this regime is because Chávez made it an important point to send oil and cash at a discount to many of these nations, essentially saying "Take this money and all you have to do is say nice things about me."

[Judi Lynn]

5. What a stupendous source to post at a Democratic website: Forbes! Woohoo. Whoopee.

Forbes gives a flying yoohoo about the poor, and knows all about "helping" the poor, the "servants," "those who work until they drop," as if they are human beings, just as if they were like the parasitic pieces of crappola, the "upper" 5%. Brilliant! Couldn't be better.

Democrats, let's all have a moment of prayer before reading the sacred run-off from Forbes, lest we should let inattention cause us to miss one single word.

Forbes Inc. is an American publishing company best known for its eponymous business magazine Forbes which is published bi-weekly. It was founded in 1917 by B.C. Forbes and built up by long-time owner Malcolm Forbes (1917–1990), noted for his intense devotion to capitalism. It is now run by Steve Forbes (1947- ), who has been very active in conservative and Republican Party affairs.

The magazine provides a range of reporting on world business affairs, and is famed for its annual lists of the richest people in America and the world. It calls itself "The Capitalist Tool."

http://www.conservapedia.com/Forbes

[newthinking]

6. Just recycled Reaganesc economics

There are problems in Venezuela as there are in this period in almost every country.

But just look back on the history of where the country came from. There is no denying that people there are better off in general than they were before the last two leaders. And every step that has been taken has been along with subversive orgs and money trying to destroy the economy to prove them wrong.

Maduro has problems on his hands including how to reduce the violence there and how he deals with it will indeed be important; but there is no question that going back and putting the power back in the old landowners would be much worse... it was before and it is proven that in South America more prosperity has been under socialized reformation throughout the region.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Our corporate media is more than happy to completely ignore actual Venezuelan history, isn't it?

As long as they can keep up their storm of nearly daily insults, overfocused rot, meaningless, if not downright utterly bogus claims and charges against whatever strong leftist has been elected, they are happy as clams, knowing there are still a lot of indifferent people who just can't be led to start trying to examine the truthfulness of their crapaganda.

It has happened to every strong leftist who has ever had massive support from the enormous numbers of ignored, denied, underprivileged, and locked out citizens in every country. They want large masses of poverty stricken human beings so their industrialists have ample cheap labor pools, and their militaries always have sufficient soldiers they can send to war to keep their defense funds flowing to the defense industry, keep using up the current defense supplies in order to replace them with new (and unneeded) ones.

It is evil, we all know it, all of us, including the right-wing trolls who really don't belong here, who come to attack leftists.

Venezuelans have BEEN there, already, just as you stated. They made their minds up long ago, before Chavez ran for election, that they were NEVER going back, even if the hounds of hell rage against them, which they do, clearly.

[Zorro]

11. Yet more revolutionary claptrap insulting anyone criticizing the Venezuelan government

from the Mouth that Bored.

[Zorro]

8. "So, if you want to alleviate poverty give the poor some more money."

That's recycled Reaganesc (sic) economics? Who knew Reagan was such a charitable guy?

Sounds as if you didn't read the article.

[Zorro]

9. So apparently you agree

with those Chavista economic policies that have created nationwide shortages of toilet paper, etc.

[parkia00]

10. Basic economics are lost on some people

Yeah the OP quoted Forbes. So what? They as capitalist would understand economics better then those who blindly parrot pointless slogans of the revolution and blame everything on everyone but themselves.

Simple economics. A cow is worth more then a Pineapple. Since I am on the issue of "cow" lets talk milk. Basics. If you force companies to sell their products at a price lower than the cost of making the product, they have two choices. Make the product, hemorrhage capital until they go bankrupt or simply close shop. Either options leads to bare shelves in the supermarket. This country use to produce their own milk. Now it is imported. The people that used to work in the factories/farms that produce milk no longer work there cause the companies have closed down as the government is forcing them to sell their milk at a price that is lower then their cost.

So the government imports milk which they pay for at market price (more expensive then locally manufactured milk) and then sell at government stores for cheap. SO now the government is hemorrhaging capital... needlessly. Capital that can be better used for healthcare, infrastructure, housing and education. This is not the way to help the poor. This is a band aid for a cut that was self inflicted.

[Bacchus4.0]

12. worst leadership in the hemisphere, along with Cuba nt