...and sadly, even worse for the people of Venezuela. In tomorrow's Wall Street Journal, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, details the paralells between the coca leaf-chewing Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and 1980's Argentine dictator Leopoldo Galtieri's similar economic spiral resulting from inflation, followed predictably by - guess what? - you guessed it - price controls. Next of course, comes shortages, and then - black markets, of course.
Price controls have only been tried for at least 2,000 years, and they haven't worked yet. Not once. But, that doesn't seem to stop people from trying. To an economic simpleton, it just seems like they really, really should work - if they could just be implemented correctly. But, they can't.
In Venezuela, with the economic mess as it is, the natives are getting restless, and Chavez is trying to make amends by propping up some nationalistic pride by flexing his muscles with Venezuela's neighbors - as Mr. Galtieri did in the UK's Falkland Islands back in the 1980's. Chavez has chosen to provoke Columbia by declaring his fondness for FARC, the Columbian terrorist rebel group. So now, Columbia will not only have to contend with FARC, but Chavez as well. According to Ms. O'Grady, Columbia, realizing Chavez was picking a fight he would likely lose to boost national pride with the Venezuelan people, did not bite.
This is just one more step toward the end for Chavez and his attempt to create a socialist or perhaps communist totalitarian dictatorship for himself. For the sake of the Venezuelan people, The FDC hopes Mr. Chavez's reign ends sooner rather than later. His recent failed vote to extend his term indefinitely, perhaps indicates a sooner exit.
As the Venezuelan economy has increasingly depended on crude oil exports as a source of income, The FDC believes that a case of Dutch disease may make a post-Chavez Venezuela equally difficult - at least in the short term.
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