First published at 01:09 UTC on January 23rd, 2020.
How Venezuela went from the richest economy in South America to the brink of financial ruin
Soaring crime, hyperinflation, food shortages... Established democracies are not supposed to implode like this. How did post-Chavez Venezuela go from the ri…
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How Venezuela went from the richest economy in South America to the brink of financial ruin
Soaring crime, hyperinflation, food shortages... Established democracies are not supposed to implode like this. How did post-Chavez Venezuela go from the richest economy in South America to the brink of social and financial ruin?
Venezuela, by the numbers, resembles a country hit by civil war. Its economy, once Latin America’s richest, is estimated to have shrunk by 10 per cent last year – worse even than Syria’s. GDP shrank by 19 per cent. The South American country also has the world’s worst inflation at more than 700 per cent (nearly double that of second-ranked South Sudan), rendering its currency almost worthless. In a country with the world’s largest proven oil reserves, food has grown so scarce that three in four citizens report involuntary weight loss, averaging 19 pounds in a year.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/how-venezuela-went-from-the-richest-economy-in-south-america-to-the-brink-of-financial-ruin-a7740616.html
Colleges are turning young people socialist in a few ways
Who’s afraid of socialism? College students certainly aren’t. In fact, a new poll reveals 70% of millennials are likely to vote for a socialist candidate.
Socialism as an economic system, on the other hand, has a mixed reputation. Capitalism is more popular among older generations and half of Gen Z and millennial types still view capitalism favorably. But neither one of the dueling economic systems holds a majority on college campuses, and the rise in popularity of democratic socialists such as Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez among young voters is hardly reassuring.
This poll reveals a few things: Young adults are hesitant to support socialist policies, likely because they don’t know how they’d work or what they’d cost. But given the right candidate, they could easily be convinced to join the cause.
https://www.washingtonexaminer..
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