Venezuela chooses the Zimbabwe model

Awww crap... Looks like another economic train-wreck with the citizens being the "beneficiaries". From Questions and Observations comes this story: bq. Maybe its because they both have "z's" in their name, but for whatever reason, the winner of the Moammar Gadhafi Human Rights Award, Venezuelan El Presidente Hugo Chavez, has decided that land redistribution is the way to go in that benighted country. bq. If you're not familiar with Zimbabwe's disasterous attempt at this very same thing, you might want to read through this blog to refresh your memory. Robert Mugabe did exactly what Chavez is considering, and the results have destroyed Zimbabwe's economy. bq. Of course, wrapped in the arrogance in which most socialists cocoon themselves, Chavez obviously believes that the idea is sound, it just hasn't been executed properly. To summarize what is happening in Zimbabwe -- it went from an exporter of food to an importer. The inflation rate is over 300%, unemployment is 70% and from a 2003 report: bq. At least 7.2 million out of Zimbabwe's population of 12 million is at risk of starvation, with deaths from Aids-related illnesses "peaking at about 2,500 per week", says Stephen Lewis, the UN's special envoy on HIV and Aids in the region. From this article: bq. He said the land reform exercise had also created numerous job opportunities, with more new farmers needing labour. "I cannot give you the exact number of jobs created so far but, yes, the agricultural sector has created most of them. In fact, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has the same figures on unemployment, and that is what I am using." bq. But a CSO official, who declined to be identified, said the organisation had not released any statistics on the unemployment situation since 2001. Riiight -- things are just great but we cannot release hard numbers just yet... Also from the same article: bq. The CCZ noted an increase in the prices of basic foods as well as non-food items. A 50 kg bag of the staple maize meal now costs Zim $60,000 (US $10), while the price of a 750 ml bottle of cooking oil is now Zim $21,000 (US $3.67), up from Zim $16,000 (US $2.80), a gain of almost 24 percent. A perfect example of rampant inflation. The Zim Dollar used to be about $55Zim to 1$USD -- now it looks like $6,000Zim to $1USD. A workers paradise indeed...