Redistribution profiteers who committed economic crimes against humanity sequestered Venezuela
Sir, I refer to Ricardo Hausmann’s sadly true “It could be too late to avoid catastrophe in Venezuela” February 4.
These days when so much is said about fighting inequality, Venezuela is a tragic example of what happens when a country falls into the hands of shameless redistribution profiteers. All countries need to develop more transparent government accounts that allows us them to measure the real costs of redistributing wealth.
For instance in the case of Venezuela the fact that the prices of petrol (gas) have not increased once since Chavez came to power 17 years ago has signified that just in free petrol the country has over the last years given away more than in all their other social programs put together… if that is not an economic crime against humanity (and environment) what is. I have tried to denounce it to the Organization of American States but they are more interested in conventional and traditional crimes against humanities.
Over the last 15 years the poor of Venezuela might not have received even 10 percent of the oil wealth that was redistributed… which would indicate a redistribution commission of 90 percent.
Clearly if other methods like direct oil revenue sharing with citizens had been used, the 10-90% figures here could have been 98-2%. And of course, had the oil revenues belonged to the citizens, the government could not have “used it to quadruple the foreign debt.”
Set into this context it is obvious that all should closely study experiments like Finland’s substituting with a basic monthly income for all the bureaucrats’ management of benefits.
PS. One of the most sad events in my lifetime has been when the US did not follow through on the idea of promoting oil revenue sharing in Iraq. Had it done so the whole middle east, and of course Venezuela, if following the example, could have been facing much better realities.
@PerKurowski ©
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