Andy Webb-Vidal in Caracas wrote an interesting article Venezuela speeds up state takeover of industries (subscription required) in the Financial Times.
Venezuela's government is accelerating plans to expropriate local agribusinesses and extend state control over foreign oil and mining industries, fulfilling President Hugo Chavez's "revolutionary" economic agenda.
Hugo de los Reyes Chavez, the governor of the province of Barinas and the president's father, issued a decree on Monday expropriating a flour milling plant belonging to Polar, Venezuela's largest food company and the country's biggest private-sector employer.
If oil prices ever fall, or perhaps when oil prices fall, there will be much pain as the economy will have to readjust to the new economic reality. While everyone wants poverty reduced, expropriation will only make matters worse. It has been tried throughout the world and most often results in a bigger mess.
The situation in Venezuela is sad really. Venezuela is a beautiful country with generous and open people. Unfortunately, Venezuela has a long history of poor government.
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