A woman shakes a bag of corn flour, shouting "Why is it so difficult for me to buy this?" as hundreds of people wait in line to buy food at a grocery store in Catia, a slum in western Caracas, Venezuela, on June 11, 2016. The nation is anxiously searching for ways to feed itself, as the economic collapse of recent years has left it unable to produce or import sufficient food.
(Photo: Meridith Kohut / The New York Times)
By Mark Weisbrot, Truthout
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The international media have provided a constant fusillade of stories and editorials (not always easily distinguished from each other) about the collapse of the Venezuelan economy for some time now. Shortages of food and medicine, hours-long lines for basic goods, incomes eroded by triple-digit inflation and even food riots have dominated press reports.
The conventional wisdom has a set of predictable narratives to explain the current economic mess. "Socialism" has failed -- never mind that the vast majority of jobs created during the Hugo Chávez years were in the private sector, and that the size of the state has been much smaller than in France. The whole experiment, it is said, was a failure from the beginning.
According to this narrative, nationalizations, anti-business policies, populist overspending during the years of high oil prices and the collapse of oil prices since 2014 sealed Venezuela's fate. Adherents to this explanation say the downward spiral will continue until the chavistas are removed from power, either through elections or through a coup (most pundits don't seem to care which).
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