Re: [Marxism] Data on Venezuela ?

[brad bauerly <bbauerly@xxxxxxxxx>]

CENTER FOR ECONOMIC AND POLICY RESEARCH

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: February 5, 2009
Contact: Dan Beeton, 202-239-1460

Report Examines Economy and Social Indicators During the Chávez Decade in
Venezuela

Washington, D.C. ? The Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR)
released a
report today on the Venezuelan economy on the tenth anniversary of President
Hugo Chávez's tenure, which began in February 1999.

"Looking at the economic data and social indicators, it's not difficult to
see
why Chávez remains popular and has won so many elections, despite
overwhelmingly hostile media coverage," said Mark Weisbrot, Co-Director of
CEPR
and lead author of the report, "The Chávez Administration at 10 Years:  The
Economy and Social Indicators."
[http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2009-02.pdf]

Among the highlights:

   * The current economic expansion began when the government got control
over
the national oil company in the first quarter of 2003. Since then, real
(inflation-adjusted) GDP has nearly doubled, growing by 94.7 percent in 5.25
years, or 13.5 percent annually.

   * Most of this growth has been in the non-oil sector of the economy, and
the
private sector has grown faster than the public sector.

   * During the current economic expansion, the poverty rate has been cut by
more than half, from 54 percent of households in the first half of 2003 to
26
percent at the end of 2008. Extreme poverty has fallen even more, by 72
percent. These poverty rates measure only cash income, and do not take into
account increased access to health care or education.

   * Over the entire decade, the percentage of households in poverty has
been
reduced by 39 percent, and extreme poverty by more than half.

   * There have been substantial gains in education, especially higher
education, where gross enrollment rates more than doubled from 1999-2000 to
2007-2008.

   * Over the past decade, the number of social security beneficiaries has
more
than doubled.

   * Real (inflation-adjusted) social spending per person more than tripled
from 1998-2006.

The report also examines the current economic situation and how the country
will
be affected by lower oil prices. It concludes that because of Venezuela's
large
accumulation of foreign exchange reserves, it is unlikely to run into
balance
of payments problems even if oil prices remain depressed for much longer
than
analysts and oil futures markets are anticipating. The most important and
immediate challenge for Venezuela, according to the analysis in this report,
will be to implement a timely and adequate fiscal stimulus package to
counteract the effects of the global recession. Over the long run, the
analysis
also sees a need for a more competitive exchange rate in order to diversify
away
from oil.

To read the report, see
http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/venezuela-2009-02.pdf

##

The Center for Economic and Policy Research is an independent, nonpartisan
think
tank that was established to promote democratic debate on the most important
economic and social issues that affect people's lives. CEPR's Advisory Board
includes Nobel Laureate economists Robert Solow and Joseph Stiglitz; Janet
Gornick, Professor at the CUNY Graduate School and Director of the
Luxembourg
Income Study; Richard Freeman, Professor of Economics at Harvard University;
and Eileen Appelbaum, Professor and Director of the Center for Women and
Work
at Rutgers University.

-- 
Brad A. Bauerly
PhD Candidate
Political Science
York University
Toronto, Canada
647-345-2072
bauerly@xxxxxxxx
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