Friday, May 16, 2014

William Easterly's "The tyranny of the experts" should be required reading for any oil cursed citizen.

Autocrats and experts have been re-potentiated by Thomas Piketty book "Capital in the XXI Century", which opens up so many new opportunities to sell their expertise in the re-distribution of resources to end inequality. 
As a counterbalance, "The tyranny of the experts" by William Easterly, should be required reading for all those living the oil curse, a Petrocracy, because this book makes clear that the only experts allowed must be us, the citizens.
The idea that a few oiligarchs may know better what to do with 29 million share parts of oil revenues, than every citizen with his share ... is in the short, medium and long term simply absurd. With, in July 2014, 100 years of experimentation, we in Venezuela should have had enough!
Extracted and translated from El Universal
PS. Just as an example currently, June 2014, in this peculiar 21st Century Socialist Venezuela, normal milk, if you can get it, is sold at 278 times the price of gas... that sure must be an economic crime against humanity.



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

EITI, go home!

The sad truth is that there are cases where a total transparency which makes it clear to the citizens how powerful their government really is, can, and in my opinion will, lead to an increase feeling among citizens that their destiny is not in their own hands and that they have to submit themselves to the will of the powerful guardians of the natural resource income.
EITI must therefore clearly identify when income from natural resources might strengthen governments to such an extent that citizens are inescapably living under a de facto autocracy, which makes it impossible for an effective democracy to function.
If EITI does not do that then it will be selling false illusions and in fact strengthening the ruling autocrats-petrocrats.
And if EITI does not do that then we have no choice but to ask… EITI, go home!


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