A cautionary tale of Venezuela? (buy, companies, tax, currency)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
For anyone who can face a detailed story - this could be categorized in a number of ways, but maybe at its heart it's about economics. Possibly a cautionary tale for the U.S. of how a wealthy country can self-destruct.
VENEZUELA, A FAILING STATE
Once the richest country in South America, it now has the world’s highest inflation rate and is plagued by hunger and violent crime. How did this happen?
The New Yorker
By William Finnegan
A charismatic man of the people was able to lead his nation in throwing off 30 years of the worst oligarchic exploitation anywhere and found a national government of, by, and for the people. Wildly popular, he won one election after another in the face of violence and murder by the once-ruling elites. Then the man got cancer and died. There was no one who could carry on in his stead. The forces of evil have closed in again and will surely devour the country.
For anyone who can face a detailed story - this could be categorized in a number of ways, but maybe at its heart it's about economics. Possibly a cautionary tale for the U.S. of how a wealthy country can self-destruct.
VENEZUELA, A FAILING STATE
Once the richest country in South America, it now has the world’s highest inflation rate and is plagued by hunger and violent crime. How did this happen?
The New Yorker
By William Finnegan
Venezuela went way overboard in trying control currency. If a businessman in Venezuela needed to buy some concrete from overseas, he needed to apply to the government for approval before he can do that. What the Frack system is that? Everything a business imports must be approved by a government breaucrat! It doesn't take a genius to see that very dumb system will eventually crash the economy.
The US is unlikely to self destruct in this way. Not that we won't, but it will be with some other way.
A charismatic man of the people was able to lead his nation in throwing off 30 years of the worst oligarchic exploitation anywhere and found a national government of, by, and for the people. Wildly popular, he won one election after another in the face of violence and murder by the once-ruling elites. Then the man got cancer and died. There was no one who could carry on in his stead. The forces of evil have closed in again and will surely devour the country.
Venezuela went way overboard in trying control currency. If a businessman in Venezuela needed to buy some concrete from overseas, he needed to apply to the government for approval before he can do that. What the Frack system is that? Everything a business imports must be approved by a government breaucrat! It doesn't take a genius to see that very dumb system will eventually crash the economy.
The US is unlikely to self destruct in this way. Not that we won't, but it will be with some other way.
.
I sort of agree. But we are moving in the same direction as Venezuela. In step by step fashion, there is ever more regulation on our economy and every aspect of our lives....yet people seem not to notice.
The process of how it works is explained here in a video from 1997:
The above discussion seems to be ignoring the impact of decreased prices for oil. Oil represents almost all of the country's exports and a huge portion of the economy.
The above discussion seems to be ignoring the impact of decreased prices for oil. Oil represents almost all of the country's exports and a huge portion of the economy.
Of course it's a factor but if Venezuela had better governance, it would have been fine even with the oil price drop. I work in the Middle East where they are even more reliant but have cleverly prepared for low oil prices. Venezuela and other countries made no allowance for oil going lower, so that's poor planning. I heard they haven't maintained their oil fields and have given jobs based on political position rather than merit which is another reason for their drop.
Location: San Ramon, Seattle, Anchorage, Reykjavik
2,254 posts, read 2,744,336 times
Reputation: 3203
Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticaltyger
I sort of agree. But we are moving in the same direction as Venezuela. In step by step fashion, there is ever more regulation on our economy and every aspect of our lives....yet people seem not to notice.
And yet our country leads the world in innovation and entrepreneurship in tech, aerospace, medical and biomedical, pharmacueticals, finance, and high value manufacturing. As an entrepreneur who has successfully started and grown several large companies I would say that the regulatory climate in the US is better than just about anywhere else in the world. It allows us to have a clean environment, free flow of capital, a stable legal and tax environment, and a strong source of talented, well educated resources. If you can't make it here it's not because of regulation or taxes. It's because you either don't have a good idea, don't know how to capitalize on it, or you can't run your business. Don't say it is anything else.
The shocking ignorance of Venezuela's political and economic history is actually not shocking at all. We put ourselves on the wrong side in Venezuela, much as we did in Vietnam.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
