Words & Numbers

Once upon a time, an out-of-touch queen heard of her subjects’ lack of bread and supposedly responded, “Let them eat cake.” Hunger has become so bad in Venezuela that its own out-of-touch ruler has proclaimed, in essence, “let them eat rabbits.” This is how far Venezuela has fallen. And yet, only a few years ago, many (including the American left) were heralding the rise of “Bolivarian socialism” as the wave of the future and the hope for the people. How can a nation plummet so deeply into squalor so quickly in spite of abundant natural resources? Economists James Harrigan and Antony Davies explain.