My email to a student who shared this with me (thanks!):
Yes!
I just tweeted that out a bit ago — and you’re right, he blames it on mismanagement (which there indeed has been) but not on the structure of oil dependence itself (or the low price of oil) — so you are right, he is not questioning oil dependence, but I would not say that he is demanding ‘resource nationalism’ explicitly, since it is not clear whether he suggests that private or American oil industries are the problem (I doubt he would, he is our preferred candidate). His discourse is probably ‘good governance’ — but what this really means in practice it’s hard to say. And, he does not recognize that some social gains were made (while prices were high).
I think the main takeaway for me was that he blames it all on Maduro, and not on the volatility of oil prices or the problem of oil dependence itself. Note that he says “equitable and sustainable growth” he does not say anything about moving beyond oil.
Glad you saw that, and thanks for sending! And stay tuned…
BG
Dear Professor Gustafson,I just wanted to share an article I came across today by a candidate who is challenging Maduro in Venezuela. You have probably already seen this, but I thought it was very interesting in light of our most recent lecture.I thought that this paragraph was particularly noteworthy:"Venezuelans’ plight today is the result of two decades of mismanagement. My country sits on the world’s largest oil reserves and enjoyed a huge oil boom from 1998 to 2012. Regrettably, the money from that good fortune was squandered and stolen. Venezuelans deserve to have their public finances be managed with honesty, responsibility and common sense. We should partner with the rest of the world to build a dynamic economy that can deliver equitable and sustainable growth."I thought it was interesting that he mentions a dynamic economy in the same paragraph as demanding more control over oil, which we learned leads to resource curse and economic dependence and instability. Is this a recognition of current economic thought that is nevertheless being manipulated to support resource nationalism?Thanks for hearing my thoughts, I am really enjoying this class.
