Structural Changes and Planning of the Economy in Revolutionary Venezuela

Abstract

International audienceThis paper analyzes the structural changes during the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela, especially regarding the role of the State in production and macroeconomic policies. It examines the institutional changes needed in the transition towards a planned economy and a socialist society. It underlines both the contradictions to be solved after the defeated December 2007 Constitutional Reform referendum, and the urgent necessity of such changes to reach a more egalitarian society

Uncovering the 5 Major Causes of the Food Crisis in Venezuela

“…The disproportionate prices in the Venezuelan market due to strong state and exchange-rate issues has enticed blackmarketers and hoarders to smuggle them across neighboring borders, particularly Colombia. While black markets were artificially made to raise exchange rates and promote capital flights to reduce production (Nakatani & Herrera, 2008), producers now rely on black markets to receive dollars. However, what the Bolivarian government refers to as hoarding, speculation, and sabotage is referred to simply as disinvestment by liberal economic analysts.…”

Venezuela ekonomisine ve kamu maliyesine genel bir bakış

“…Finans ve sigorta hizmetlerinin GSYH'daki payı 1997 yılında %2'den 2015 yılında %7,4'e yükselmiştir. Nakatani ve Herrera (2008) imalat sektöründe yaşanan gerilemenin, ülke üretiminin ithalata bağlı yapısından kopamamasından kaynaklandığını söylemektedir.…”

Crisis in Venezuela, or the Bolivarian Dilemma: To Revolutionize or to Perish? A Kaleckian Interpretation

“…Furthermore, as highlighted by Nakatani and Herrera (2008), following the 2001 Organic Law of Planning, the government created a series of local institutions aimed at organizing people's participation in public budgeting decisions: the Local Councils of Public Planning (which operate at city level); the District Councils (which in addition can manage local banks, financed by the government); and manufacturing cooperatives.…”

“…Second and foremost, it is important to emphasize that not only Simón Bolívar but also Antonio Gramsci have represented seminal references in the definition of Chavist ideology. 11 In particular, the deep transformation of local authorities into organs of communal power ("Poder Comunal"), as described by both Nakatani and Herrera (2008) and Ciccariello-Maher (2007), was actually aimed at the construction of a new historical hegemonic block, to direct the nation toward a "21st-century socialism. "…”

“…Even though the government was not able to affect a change in the country's productive structure (which remained largely dependent on oil), or to implement significant industrial policies or economic planning programs (Nakatani et al 2008), Venezuela was able to take advantage of a huge economic expansion by means of a demand-oriented strategy which led to unprecedented expansion of the domestic market.…”