Musings of a Libertarian

Yesterday yet another election was stolen by a despot: Maduro in Venezuela. Predictably, the social media left have come out in force to pretend an absolute majority of citizens voted for a government which has butchered their freedoms and living standards. In contrast, 5000 kilometres to the south, Argentines are enjoying the first fruits of laissez-faire market capitalism. In the 20th century Venezuelans enjoyed one of the highest qualities of life in the Western world. The country boomed as it attracted migrants by the millions, not primarily from other Latin American States, but from the wealthy nations of Western Europe, struggling with the realities of a post-war economy. Let's take a look at the socialist's least favourite thing: objective measures of economic development. In 1950 only the United States, Switzerland and New Zealand enjoyed higher per capita incomes than Venezuelans. GDP has declined by 80% in ten years. In the same period, the size of the Chilean economy...