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157 comments on DrumBeat: November 15, 2008

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Darwinian on November 15, 2008 - 11:03am Permalink | Subthread | Comments top

ELM in action. What is Venezuela's Domestic Gasoline Consumption subtracted from production?

In 2002, there were approximately 2.6 million vehicles in Venezuela. This has increased to 4.07 million vehicles as of Sept. 2008, a 56.7% increase. In 2002, PDVSA stated consumption was at 510,000 bpd, which would suggest that assuming no attrition in the fleet, current consumption would be 795,000 bpd.

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dissident on November 15, 2008 - 4:33pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

So maybe "traffic crawls on Caracas' crumbling highways" because there are 57% more cars over a six year period. Infrastructure does not respond on the same timescale as consumer goods. The article "The Global Financial Crisis Batters Chávez" is nothing but the usual wishful thinking drivel. Chavez has been investing in his electorate and not multinational parasites. Now more cars on city streets is evidence of poverty in the 1984 media.

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puhkawn on November 15, 2008 - 7:52pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

"Mr. Chavez, who has been spending Venezuela's oil windfall on a variety of conventional weapons, has bought more than $4.4 billion in Russian arms in the past five years and plans to add to this arsenal by purchasing $2 billion more."

Washington Times,Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Meanwhile,

" CARACAS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Coffee has disappeared from many Venezuelan supermarkets, highlighting economic problems ahead of local and regional elections in which politicians allied with President Hugo Chavez may lose key posts.

Venezuelans go to the polls on Nov. 23 to elect state governors and city mayors in a test of support for leftist Chavez a year after he lost his first national vote since winning power in 1998.

Venezuela last year struggled with widespread shortages of staples such as milk and beef, which pollsters say contributed to Chavez's defeat in a December referendum that would have let him stay in office as long as he kept winning elections.

The government largely eliminated shortages earlier this year. But in recent weeks, shoppers have been unable to find coffee in stores, though cafes still serve it and street vendors are selling it at about twice the regulated price."

Lets add sugar & rice to the hard to find list. Some investment.

If you want to see what an "investment in electorate" can do look to Chile. Now the wealthiest country in South America,(Highest standard of living.) the fewest poor and check out how they did it.

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AlanfromBigEasy on November 15, 2008 - 8:20pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

The Rev. Moon Unification Church/cult newspaper is not a reliable source of information about Venezuela.

Alan

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PaulS on November 15, 2008 - 9:02pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

I suppose New Zealand is in on your evil wicked Moonie Coffee Conspiracy too.

I think there's an old, hackneyed lesson in the story that Americans have forgotten over the last few decades, and need to re-learn sooner rather than later: There Really Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. Dismissing that point with a snooty sneer will not make it go away.

One way shiftless people attempt to consume more than they produce, or attempt to consume at someone else's expense, is to enact price controls. Sometimes those controls are merely symbolic, but when they are strong enough to have an effect, that effect is almost invariably shortages. This is not exactly news, and has no specific connection to Moonies. Indeed, it was demonstrated in the US southeast not too long ago. But how fast we forget when we're wallowing in entitlement-mindedness.

Oh, and contrary to the views of both Chávez and the two major US political parties, people cannot consume more than they produce, or get lots of stuff for free, except for a short time. That time may have run out in both countries - we shall see. But so far, free houses and transportation to and from them in the USA; and free coffee, fuel, and consumer goods in Venezuela - neither seems to be working out scintillatingly well. Nor did the general concept work out overly well in the former Soviet Union. I guess things are tough all over.

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Apuleius on November 15, 2008 - 11:11pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Notice the byline says REUTERS?

It is not the habit of the Washington Times to mis-attribute wire stories to the wrong agency. And Reuters is not in the disinfo business.

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dissident on November 16, 2008 - 9:25am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

Yeah, right. Like its "impartial" coverage of Saakashvili's attack on Ossetian civilians with indiscriminate barrages of artillery and MLRS. I remember Reuters bleating incessantly about how 90% of Kosovo was Albanian so the KLA was right in fighting for Kosovo secession. In fact, Albanians were 76% of the population and got over 90% by driving out 240,000 people from the province under KFOR's nose. If illegal migration and low intensity ethnic cleansing under Tito's dictatorship establish the legitimacy of Kosovo's independence, then Reuters hypocrites should shut up about South Ossetia. Unlike Kosovo, where Albanians were 30% of the population before WWII, South Ossetians did not squat on Georgian land and have a clear majority. It was the Soviet regime that split their country as gifts to Georgia and Russia. But the bloody ethnic conflict since the 1917 revolution has been confined to the part adjoined to Georgia.

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DownSouth on November 15, 2008 - 9:02pm Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

You're right. Measured by per-capita GDP, Chile is the richest country in South America:


The following countries have rejected neoliberalism:

               IMF         WB        CIA  
Argentina     13,318     13,244     13,100 
Brazil         9,703      9,570      9,500 
Chile         13,921     13,885     14,300 
Uruguay       11,674     11,236     10,800 
Venezuela     12,176     12,168     12,800 

Colombia is the only country in South America that still
abides by the Washington Consensus:

Colombia       7,968      6,958      7,400 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)_per_capita

Chile has had a leftist government for the last 19 years:

A former torture victim of General Augusto Pinochet's dictatorship, Michelle Bachelet, was elected the first woman president of Chile last night after her rival, Sebastián Piñera, a billionaire, conceded when exit polls showed her taking 53% of the vote in early returns.
Ms Bachelet, a paediatrician, is the fourth consecutive president for the ruling Concertación, a centre-left coalition that has governed for 16 years, since the end of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1990.

As the final votes were counted, tens of thousands of Chileans flocked to the centre of Santiago, dancing and chanting "Michelle, Michelle, Michelle". Samba bands thumped and caravans of cars blew their horns in spontaneous celebration.

The election of Ms Bachelet, a Socialist and long-time human rights activist, is the latest in a string of victories for leftwing presidential candidates in South America, after the December victory of Evo Morales in Bolivia.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/16/chile.mainsection

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dissident on November 16, 2008 - 9:11am Permalink | Subthread | Parent | Comments top

$6.4 billion going to Russia and not the US for weapons explains the sour grapes whining.

The Venezuelan budget for 2007 was $68.2 billion according to the CIA factbook. Spending on Russian weapons has been averaging LESS than $1 billion per year, that is under 1.4%. The total defense spending is under 3% of the GDP. According to the Venezuelan government, social spending in 2007 was 41% of the budget. Get another propaganda leaflet.

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157 comments on DrumBeat: November 15, 2008

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