This week's edition of the Carnival of the Uncapitalists (hosted by The All Spin Zone is highly abbreviated as the Carnival focuses upon Latin America as a theme. Being uncapitalists, the most interesting posts of the week focus on Venezuela's president:
- The Green Lantern's Gretchen Ross' uncritical look at Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez' increasing use of paranoid anti-U.S. rhetoric.
- A post at Fruits of Our Labour claims Hugo Chavez' socialist policies have led to economic growth of 17% in 2004 and drastic reductions in unemployment.
Quick Snapshot of Venezuela's Economy
After reading the latter post, I thought it might be interesting to take a closer look at Venezuela. The World Factbook notes in its overview of Venezuela's economy:
Venezuela continues to be highly dependent on the petroleum sector, accounting for roughly one-third of GDP, around 80% of export earnings, and over half of government operating revenues. A disastrous two-month national oil strike from December 2002 to February 2003, temporarily halted economic activity. The economy remained in depression in 2003, declining by 9.2% after an 8.9% fall in 2002. Despite continued domestic instability, output recovered strongly in 2004, aided by high oil prices. Both inflation and unemployment remain fundamental problems.
This information suggests that Venezuela's 16.8% GDP growth in 2004 is largely a recovery to pre-national oil strike levels, which given the increased price of oil, indicates that Venezuela's real economic output has not yet reached pre-strike levels.
Looking at unemployment levels, the World Factbook estimates Venezuela's 2004 average level of unemployment to be 17.1%. Other reports of unemployment statistics from the Central Bank of Venezuela (BCV) indicate that registered unemployment has declined from January 2004 to January 2005, moving from 19.1% down to 15.5%. This latter unemployment figure marks a return to pre-national oil strike levels. Venezuela's rate of unemployment peaked at 20.7% in January 2003.
The BCV forecasts Venezuelan GDP growth of 5% this year, with a continuing decline in unemployment levels.
More informtion about Venezuela's economy is available at Wikipedia.
Update: Broken link for Gretchen Ross' "The Green Lantern" repaired.
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