5 ms·

Venezuela's situation is just sad. Produces less than half of the food it needs to sustain the population, the vast majority of exports are oil (which has crash

by bserge 5y ago

Venezuela's situation is just sad. Produces less than half of the food it needs to sustain the population, the vast majority of exports are oil (which has crashed in price) and some other natural resources. A recipe for disaster. No one needs their currency, not even the pathetic internal market, they can't get foreign currency because exports are low (esp. for a country of 30 million). Wat nou?

fighterpilot 5y ago
Yet another attempt at socialism bites the dust. Sad that there's still so much denial among Western intelligentsia and sad there's no accountability for the scum foreign leftists that helped foment this humanitarian tragedy (e.g actor Sean Penn)
keneda7 5y ago
I believe they have the largest oil reserves in the world (over 15% of the worlds reserve). I also believe Venezuela was in dire straights long before oil crashed. Quite honestly their government is massively to blame. After a certain leader passed away they went downhill very fast.
- confused1 5y ago
  How is it possible that the HackerNews crowd isn’t aware of US sanctions?
  - imtringued 5y ago
    That would ruin the "government incompetence caused hyperinflation" narrative because people want to laugh, be smug and feel superior. If people knew that e.g. the Weimar Republik hyperinflation was caused by external factors like war reparations then they would have to understand that hyperinflation is more than just "printing money".
    - tim333 5y ago
      There have been major sanctions since 2017 while "Inflation rates became the highest in the world in 2014 under Nicolás Maduro, and continued to increase in the following years"
- namdnay 5y ago
  That certain leader is the one who sent them downhill: Chavism was a recipe for disaster from the start. It’s only because the price of oil was so high in 2000-2008 that the rot wasn’t immediately apparent. Chavez is the one who replaced competent leaders with army cronies. Chavez is the one who demolished democracy
  - refurb 5y ago
    And Chavez was the one who nationalized the oil companies and then was shocked when he couldn’t find competent people to keep the refineries going. Literally killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.
just-ok 5y ago
Crashed... in... price...? I guess I should investigate the $5/gal gas prices I’m seeing in CA.
- singlow 5y ago
  You should investigate. At least $1.21/gal of that is going to the government. State/Federal gas tax + sales tax + regulatory fees and other regulatory fees. Also California mandates specific formulations which adds to the costs compared to other locations, and add to that the general increased cost of any operations in the state, including higher wages. That extra cost you pay is not going to the ones pulling crude out of the ground. Not saying that Venezuela isn't mismanaging its natural resource revenue, but your high prices are not a contradiction of the fact that their revenue is impacted by an historically low crude price.
- techrat 5y ago
  I like how you think you can infer the way the rest of the world should be just based on your local petrol prices.
  - vanviegen 5y ago
    Meanwhile in Europe prices are approaching USD 9 / gallon. (And yes, that includes a lot of taxes.)
- hadlock 5y ago
  California has a special summer blend of gas that has an unusual vapor pressure due to somewhat unique additives. The only people that make CA blend gas is, surprise surprise, in the high cost of business state, California. California effectively has a closed petroleum economy which has a dramatic impact on fuel prices. It's completely disconnected from Venezuela.
  - emptysongglass 5y ago
    Why don't the gas stations just sell regular gas and not this special sauce that's inflating the price?
spockz 5y ago
Oil crashed? The news here yesterday was that the MSRP for gasoline is now over €2/liter due the high oil price of more than $80/barrel.
- namdnay 5y ago
  Chavism worked when oil was well above 100usd. 80 is still very low relatively to the rest of the 21st century
tim333 5y ago
If they could kick out Maduro and get a sane government things would be quite fixable. Venezuela used to be the richest country in South America. Their problems are very man made.

by bserge 5y ago

fighterpilot 5y ago

Yet another attempt at socialism bites the dust. Sad that there's still so much denial among Western intelligentsia and sad there's no accountability for the scum foreign leftists that helped foment this humanitarian tragedy (e.g actor Sean Penn)

keneda7 5y ago

I believe they have the largest oil reserves in the world (over 15% of the worlds reserve). I also believe Venezuela was in dire straights long before oil crashed. Quite honestly their government is massively to blame. After a certain leader passed away they went downhill very fast.

confused1 5y ago
How is it possible that the HackerNews crowd isn’t aware of US sanctions?
- imtringued 5y ago
  That would ruin the "government incompetence caused hyperinflation" narrative because people want to laugh, be smug and feel superior. If people knew that e.g. the Weimar Republik hyperinflation was caused by external factors like war reparations then they would have to understand that hyperinflation is more than just "printing money".
  - tim333 5y ago
    There have been major sanctions since 2017 while "Inflation rates became the highest in the world in 2014 under Nicolás Maduro, and continued to increase in the following years"
namdnay 5y ago
That certain leader is the one who sent them downhill: Chavism was a recipe for disaster from the start. It’s only because the price of oil was so high in 2000-2008 that the rot wasn’t immediately apparent. Chavez is the one who replaced competent leaders with army cronies. Chavez is the one who demolished democracy
- refurb 5y ago
  And Chavez was the one who nationalized the oil companies and then was shocked when he couldn’t find competent people to keep the refineries going. Literally killed the goose that lays the golden eggs.

just-ok 5y ago

Crashed... in... price...? I guess I should investigate the $5/gal gas prices I’m seeing in CA.

singlow 5y ago
You should investigate. At least $1.21/gal of that is going to the government. State/Federal gas tax + sales tax + regulatory fees and other regulatory fees. Also California mandates specific formulations which adds to the costs compared to other locations, and add to that the general increased cost of any operations in the state, including higher wages. That extra cost you pay is not going to the ones pulling crude out of the ground. Not saying that Venezuela isn't mismanaging its natural resource revenue, but your high prices are not a contradiction of the fact that their revenue is impacted by an historically low crude price.
techrat 5y ago
I like how you think you can infer the way the rest of the world should be just based on your local petrol prices.
- vanviegen 5y ago
  Meanwhile in Europe prices are approaching USD 9 / gallon. (And yes, that includes a lot of taxes.)
hadlock 5y ago
California has a special summer blend of gas that has an unusual vapor pressure due to somewhat unique additives. The only people that make CA blend gas is, surprise surprise, in the high cost of business state, California. California effectively has a closed petroleum economy which has a dramatic impact on fuel prices. It's completely disconnected from Venezuela.
- emptysongglass 5y ago
  Why don't the gas stations just sell regular gas and not this special sauce that's inflating the price?

spockz 5y ago

Oil crashed? The news here yesterday was that the MSRP for gasoline is now over €2/liter due the high oil price of more than $80/barrel.

namdnay 5y ago
Chavism worked when oil was well above 100usd. 80 is still very low relatively to the rest of the 21st century

tim333 5y ago

If they could kick out Maduro and get a sane government things would be quite fixable. Venezuela used to be the richest country in South America. Their problems are very man made.