Posted on 12/28/2024 5:45:13 AM PST by MtnClimber
For obvious reasons, our legacy media have very limited interest in reporting regularly on economic news from the various socialist/communist paradises around the world. So if you want to learn the latest, best to turn to the Manhattan Contrarian.
Needless to say, all the economic news from these places is bad. If you think that Bidenomics has been bad for America, you really need to look at the destruction that serious socialism can bring to a country when given a chance.
Cuba
I last checked in on Cuba on October 29 with a post titled “Cuba: The Collapse Accelerates.” A Spanish demographer had just published an analysis indicating that Cuba had lost more than 10% of its population over the past two years. The island had also just gone about a week, October 19-26, with almost no electricity; but by the 26th it had returned to the “status quo ante” of mere power “cuts” of up to 20 hours per day.
Things continue to get only worse. On December 4-5, Cuba suffered yet another nationwide power blackout, the third in two months. From the European Commission’s site ECHO:
On 4 December, Cuba was affected by a third nation-wide blackout in less than two months, causing the closure of schools and the suspension of non-essential services. The incident is attributed to the failure of the Guiteras power plant, the biggest of Cuba’s eight thermoelectric power plants. Shortage of fuel continues despite increased oil shipment from Venezuela, Mexico and Russia.
The fundamental problem appears to be that all of Cuba’s power plants are old and wearing out. There are no new thermal power plants under construction in Cuba. Therefore there is almost no prospect of Cuba’s power situation getting fixed any time soon.
According to CiberCuba on December 19, the Cuban government has recently acknowledged that it has become an importer of sugar:
The Cuban government acknowledged that it is "shameful" for the island, traditionally one of the leading sugar producers in Latin America, to be forced to import this product. Despite efforts to revive the sugar industry, the sector continues to face serious challenges, including failures in the last harvest.
Reuters had a summary article on December 19. Excerpts:
As blackouts, food, fuel and labor shortages in Cuba grow more acute by the day, a trip to the Caribbean island has become a hard sell. . . . Taxi driver David Sarzo, who drives a vintage U.S. sedan in Havana, said he and his colleagues could not see "any light at the end of the tunnel because of the crisis ... which is leading tourism agents to steer clients away from Cuba." . . . Canada - which sends more tourists to Cuba than any other country - is now telling its citizens to "exercise a high degree of caution in Cuba due to shortages of basic necessities including food, medicine and fuel."
China
A long front-page piece in the Wall Street Journal on December 23 has a good analysis of China’s current economic malaise. The headline is “Xi Sticks To His Guns as Economy Teeters.” (The first 8 paragraphs are available outside of paywall here.). Excerpt:
More than 10 years into the Xi Jinping era, it has become clear that much of China's growth under his watch was driven by unsustainable borrowing, real-estate speculation and investments in factories and infrastructure the country didn't really need. . . . Now, China is drowning in debt, reeling from a property bust that wiped out trillions of dollars of household wealth, and verging on a deflationary spiral. Growth has slowed, Western investment has collapsed and consumer confidence is near a record low. And yet, as China squares off with the U.S. for a second showdown over trade, Xi is digging in. He’s convinced that his top-down approach to managing China’s economy, with plans to make it an even bigger industrial power, offers the best path for China to eventually surpass the U.S. in economic might.
The New York Times on December 12 reports on the solution which Xi and his minions are implementing. The headline is “China Pledges More Stimulus To Shore Up Flagging Economy.” Excerpt:
China’s top leaders on Thursday pledged more stimulus measures to shore up the country’s economy, building on steps they have taken in recent months to bolster growth. At an annual gathering of the Chinese Communist Party and the cabinet, led by the country’s top leader, Xi Jinping, officials agreed that the government should allow a bigger budget deficit, borrow more and cut interest rates, the state television broadcaster said on Thursday.
This time they are tossing around numbers of $1 trillion and up for the “stimulus.” The result will only be more useless factories to produce things that nobody wants or needs.
Venezuela
Nobody seems much willing to report on the disastrous state of the Venezuelan economy since dictator Nicolás Maduro stole the election back in July. Maybe the fact that he rounded up and jailed hundreds of people who protested the stealing of the election has something to do with that. The latest I can find on Venezuela’s economy is this report from Economics Observatory dated September 23, headline “Why did Venezuela’s economy collapse?” Excerpt:
The country [of Venezuela] has seen the largest ever decline in living standards outside war, revolution or the collapse of the state. Living standards in oil-rich Venezuela plummeted by a staggering 74% between 2013 and 2023. This is the fifth largest fall in living standards in modern economic history.
Economics Observatory notes that there have been larger declines in living standards than that suffered by Venezuela, but all of those have been in the context of war or civil violence. (Examples: Iraq, Libya, Lebanon.). Venezuela’s collapse has been self-inflicted by bad economic policy. Excerpt from EO:
[T]he Venezuelan government ran double-digit fiscal deficits as the economy boomed. Government spending far outpaced income from taxes and other revenues. To finance these unnecessary shortfalls, they raised the external debt sixfold by saddling the state-owned oil company and government with over $100 billion in obligations. The country also became increasingly reliant on the central bank printing money.
Somehow EO leaves out other pieces of the Venezuela economic program, like widespread nationalizations, price controls, and crushing disfavored businesses by restricting access to foreign currency. But they’ve got the basic idea.
Let’s look forward to a new year where the United States pulls back from its recent dalliance with socialism lite.
The left seems to love the suffering. It must give the dictators a god complex to see that they are living so far above the dirty masses.
Contrasting what is happening in Venezuela and Argentina is dramatic.
China has an out. They can invade Taiwan and take peoples minds off their anger. Works every time it’s been tried.
They’ve overextended themselves with their conditional aid.
The premise is invalid.
China lacks the ability to invade and hold Taiwan
Oh come on. Socialism’s just not being done right! ;-)
Something like 70+ days of bombing Serbia from 15,000 feet, mostly on civilians, to get people’s minds off what was in the news before an election?
Every time I think of the last three Democrat presidents, I am so thankful for President Donald J Trump.
China is drowning in debt, reeling from a property bust that wiped out trillions of dollars of household wealth, and verging on a deflationary spiral. Growth has slowed, Western investment has collapsed and consumer confidence is near a record low,
“China has an out. They can invade Taiwan and take peoples minds off their anger. Works every time it’s been tried.”
Didn’t work with the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina. It was a total disaster.
It only works if you win the war quickly and at low cost.
China had a better chance with Biden as President.
**Didn’t work with the invasion of the Falkland Islands by Argentina.**
Wanna bet?
**It was a total disaster. It only works if you win the war quickly and at low cost.**
You got that right.
This ought to be required reading for all HS and college students….
**Something like 70+ days of bombing Serbia from 15,000 feet, mostly on civilians, to get people’s minds off what was in the news before an election?**
Same with that aspirin factory in Sudan.
1975 Mayaguez incident. It came 3 weeks after Vietnam fell.
1983 Grenada-a week after the Beruit bombing.
Manhattan Contrarian Ping
Let’s look forward to a new year where the United States pulls back from its recent dalliance with socialism lite.
they are a lot of good little things going on now, we were near the brink.
Keep your eyes on the ball.
Because it is built on victimhood, it indoctrinates its followers in the belief that other people are responsible for all their problems. It prohibits them from accepting responsibility and figuring out what they might need to change about themselves to solve these problems.
Because of this, their problems never get solved. As the old saying goes, "The first step in solving a problem is to admit you have one."
Marxists get stuck in a never-ending loop. The more their problems multiply, the more the Marxists hate those onto whom they have projected the blame. This loop continues until the individuals and their system crash and burn.
This is what was at the root of the "Trump is Hitler" accusation. Trump symbolizes all of us non-Marxists. We are the ones responsible for all their problems. And their hatred for us is white-hot.
CUBA is no longer growing sugar canes, it seems.
THEY ARE IMPORTING SUGAR-—AT $25 a POUND
China is adding to the inflationary spiral by printing 1 trillion yuan.
Their economy may not be able to handle that much money, and Venezuela is the closest future for them.
Now, what their military does remains to be seen. Outward to Taiwan, and inward towards Beijing?
With the recent “recalculations” of economic data in the US, I wonder what timebombs are left for Trump and his team?
And those dictators will be in for a rude awakening on Judgement Day.
In fact, it should be required reading for all students, from preschool to college.
WOW - standards that all the socialists in Congress can live up to...NUTS!
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