In Part I of this series, I documented the dramatic decline in living standards ever since socialists took power in Venezuela. In Part II, I compared Venezuela’s decline to the other Latin American nations, particularly the success story of Chile. Initially, I planned on this being a two-part series. After all, what else needs to […]
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The Venezuelan Tragedy Shows Why Workers and Capitalists Should Be Allies in the Fight against Statism
Posted in Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela on November 10, 2018| 7 Comments »
I periodically explain that labor and capital are the two factors of production and that our prosperity depends on how efficiently they are allocated. But I probably don’t spend enough time highlighting how they are complementary, meaning that workers and capitalists both benefit when the two factors are combined. Simply stated, workers become more productive […]
Can We Predict When Venezuela’s Statist Nightmare Will End?
Posted in Big Government, Collectivism, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Big Government, Collectivism, Statism, Venezuela on September 12, 2018| 19 Comments »
Ever since 2010, I’ve been pointing out that Venezuela is a horrifying and tragic example of what happens when the private sector in a country is almost completely suffocated by excessive government. And with the country now in a death spiral, you would think it’s a perfect time for further commentary. I sometimes wonder, though, […]
World Bank Compares Chile and Venezuela
Posted in Chile, Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Chile, Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela on July 24, 2018| 51 Comments »
I’m in China this week, giving various lectures at Northeastern University in Shenyang. My topic today was “Real-World Examples,” which gave me an opportunity to share many of the charts I’ve developed showing how market-oriented nations enjoy much more long-run success. One of the charts shows how Chile has enjoyed strong growth since it shifted […]
Civil Asset Forfeiture: A Slice of Venezuelan-Style Thuggery in America
Posted in Asset Forfeiture, Crime, Government Thuggery, tagged Asset Forfeiture, Crime, Government Thuggery on September 16, 2017| 22 Comments »
I periodically list people who have suffered horrible abuse because of despicable actions by government. At some point, I’ll have to create a special page to memorialize these victims. Something like the Bureaucrat Hall of Fame or Moocher Hall of Fame, though I haven’t figured out a good name (“Victims of Government Thuggery Hall of […]
Venezuela’s Accelerating Descent to Socialist Misery
Posted in Big Government, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Big Government, Statism, Venezuela on May 18, 2017| 51 Comments »
Nations usually don’t suffer overnight economic collapse. Indeed, Adam Smith was right about the ability of a country to survive and withstand lots of bad public policy. But at some point, as a nation gravitates in the wrong direction on the statism spectrum, it goes from prosperity to stagnation to decline. Which is sort of what […]
The Transition from Communism in the Soviet Bloc and Lessons for Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela
Posted in Communism, Economics, Europe, Free Markets, Rule of Law, tagged Communism, Economics, Europe, Free Markets, Rule of Law on April 5, 2017| 11 Comments »
It appears that Venezuela is on the brink of collapse as it enters the fourth circle of statist hell. And the death of Cuba’s long-time dictator gives hope that the people of that island nation may soon escape communist tyranny. Moreover, one certainly hopes that the lunatic leadership of North Korea’s brutal regime won’t last […]
Venezuela and Santa Claus vs Thomas Sowell and the Little Red Hen
Posted in Economics, Government Thuggery, Redistribution, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Economics, Government Thuggery, Redistribution, Statism, Venezuela on December 11, 2016| 17 Comments »
Earlier this year, I borrowed from Dante’s Inferno and created the Five Circles of Statist Hell. At the time, I suggested that Venezuela was on the cusp of moving from the third circle (“widespread poverty and economic misery”) to the fourth circle (“systematic and grinding poverty and deprivation”). Since we now know that children in […]
Venezuela Is Heading for the Fourth Circle of Statist Hell
Posted in Big Government, Economics, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Big Government, Economics, Statism, Venezuela on July 30, 2016| 72 Comments »
Maybe it’s just because I’m a wonk, but it seems that comparing long-run growth rates in various nation sets up a slam-dunk argument for the superiority of free markets and small government. Whether it’s North Korea vs. South Korea, Cuba vs. Chile, or Ukraine vs. Poland, nations with bigger governments and more intervention inevitably decline […]
Untrammeled Majoritarianism and the Venezuelan Disaster
Posted in Big Government, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Big Government, Statism, Venezuela on July 3, 2016| 24 Comments »
The economic and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela is the predictable result of statism run amok. And I will confess a bit of Schadenfreude has suffused my columns on the topic. I very much enjoyed mocking leftists who have tried to rationalize Venezuela’s economic collapse. I gleefully compared Venezuela’s long-run stagnation with South Korea’s long-run economic […]
Chile, Venezuela, and the Left’s Support of State over Prosperity
Posted in Chile, Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela, tagged Chile, Economics, Free Markets, Statism, Venezuela on May 26, 2016| 52 Comments »
Venezuela is falling apart. Decades of bad policy have produced economic stagnation and misery. On the other side of South America, Chile has enjoyed comparatively strong growth since reforms began in the 1980s. Can we learn lessons by comparing these two nations? Yes. More than five years ago, I compared three decades of data to […]