Friday, January 25, 2019

Matias Vernengo — On the crisis in Venezuela

The numbers are from the World Bank Development Indicators up to 2016, and then I use the IMF estimates of growth (actually decline) from the World Economic Outlook database. So this is a brutal collapse, something the US government is doing, even at the price of some costs to local refineries, in order to promote regime change in Venezuela. Whatever your views on Maduro and the Chávez period, note that the US is fine with Saudi Arabia. Trump and Dems before too. And remember that Obama tightened the embargo as one of his last measures. Double standards are incredible, and difficult to defend....
Naked Keynesianism
On the crisis in Venezuela
Matias Vernengo | Associate Professor of Economics, Bucknell University

See also

The tell.

Only Tulsi Gabard passes the test with an unconditional answer. Bernie waffles and the rest are silent so far.

In These Times
Where Are Democratic 2020 Hopefuls on the Trump-Backed Coup Attempt in Venezuela?
Marco Cartolano

1 comment:

Konrad said...

“Only Tulsi Gabard passes the test with an unconditional answer. Bernie waffles, and the rest are silent so far.”

Bernie has always opposed Venezuela’s government. He condemned Hugo Chavez as a “communist dictator.” And while Sanders says the USA should not be launching coups all over the world, Sanders is on board with the current threats against Maduro. Sanders wrote yesterday, “The Maduro government in Venezuela has been waging a violent crackdown on Venezuelan civil society, violated the constitution by dissolving the National Assembly, and was re-elected last year in an election that many observers said was fraudulent. Further, the economy is a disaster and millions are migrating."

Source: US Senate …
https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-statement-on-venezuela

Therefore the US should not be staging coups, but on the other hand, Nicolas Maduro is a “dictator” who must go.