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poverty went up from 1998 up to 2005 then Chavez himself ordered the methodology to be changed
I’m sorry. The source you provide for this, in fact, says the exact opposite. Here is a link to an English version of the report. As you can see from the first sentence, this CEPR report was written in order to refute the FALSE statements made at the time (2005) [and repeated here by Juanzen] that “poverty in Venezuela has increased under the government of President Hugo Chavez”. The report finds these statements to be FALSE; POVERTY DID NOT INCREASE “from 1998 up to 2005”; IN FACT, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE.
FROM THE REPORT (dated 2005): the household poverty rate declined from 55.6% in 1997 to 39% in 2001. From 2002 to 2003, poverty rose, “driven overwhelmingly by the oil strike… [led by the opposition] which crippled the economy and caused a sharp downturn”. Afterwards, the economy began to recover, and “as a result of this recovery, the poverty rate dropped to 37.9" in 2005, the latest available data”. Conclusion:
"If we compare the latest available data to the start of the present government, …the household poverty rate was thus reduced by 11.4 percent [that is, from 1998 to 2005].
As for your claim that “Chavez himself ordered the methodology to be changed”. THIS IS FALSE. The report that you mistakenly cite to SUPPORT this claim says that it is false (did you even read it?)!
"[A]ccording to the INE [National Statistics Institute], there has been no change in the institute’s methodology, and there is no evidence that it has changed".
There’s a lesson here. Read the articles before you cite them as ‘sources’.
Do some research.
I HAVE done the research (wrote my MA thesis on Venezuela), and I can tell you with a high level of certainty that almost none of what you say is supported by the facts as I’ve come to learn them. But I don’t expect anyone just to take my word for it. It’s important to cite sources for one’s claims. You need to do that. I’ll show you how.
I’m not sure how to prove that the “standard of living” has increased. Doesn’t inflation factor into that?
Inflation
It is true that Venezuela has high inflation, but critics of Chavez’s economic policies usually fail to mention that inflation levels were much, much higher under the neoliberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s. Here’s a handy graph of the history of Venezuela’s inflation rate, from 1987 to 2012. And here is another. Compare the highest inflation rate under Chavez, 30.4% in 2008, to the inflation during the decade prior to his presidency: 30% in 1987 and 1988, 84.5% in 1989, 40.7% in 1990, 34.2% in 1991, 31.4% in 1992, 38.1% in 1993, 50.85% in 1994, 59.9% in 1995, 99.9% in 1996, 50% in 1997, 35.8% in 1998, and 23.6% in 1999.
Minimum wage
Venezuela’s minimum wage is the highest in the region. The government has raised the minimum wage–between 20% and 30%–every year without fail since Hugo Chavez was first elected President in 1998.
To be fair, the actual purchasing power of workers is not, in fact, growing as significantly as it might appear, judging from these annual minimum wage increases, due to the country’s rising inflation. But, so what? Even if the Chavez government has been merely adjusting the minimum wage for inflation, that is still better than most governments! Moreover, the minimum wage was FROZEN throughout the 1980s and 1990s, when inflation rates broke the ceiling of 100 percent annually! It should also be noted that, under the Chavez government, the number of workers receiving the minimum wage has fallen from 65 percent in 1999 to 21 percent in 2010. (Source)
Poverty
During the past decade under Chavez, the income poverty rate in Venezuela has dropped by more than half, from 54% of households below poverty level in the first half of 2003, down to 26% at the end of 2008.* “Extreme poverty” has fallen even more – by 72%. Further, “these poverty rates measure only cash income, and doesn’t take into account increased access to health care or education.” (Wikipedia)
Inequality
Venezuela has the lowest percentage (0.38 percent) of social inequality in Latin America, according a report released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (Source).
How about: >Look a the GINI index
OK, let’s do that.
Venezuela’s social inequality index (also known as Gini coefficient) this year is 0.42,where on a scale of 0 to 1, 0.49 is low, 0.49-0.70 is medium, and 0.80-1 is high inequality, making it the lowest in Latin America, including Chile and Costa Rica, which had the least inequality in 2007. (Source)
Illiteracy
You write: >look at the number of illiterate people (it stayed the same, despite a claim of hiring 1M people to teach–the government records show no records of any expenditures for such a program).
Pardon me if I do not take your word on this.
“Mission Robinson” is one of the Bolivarian Missions (a series of anti-poverty and social welfare programs) implemented by the Chavez government. The program teaches “reading, writing and arithmetic to the more than 1.5 million Venezuelan adults who were illiterate prior to Chavez’s election to the presidency in 1999". In 2005, Venezuela declared itself a "Territory Free of Illiteracy", having raised the literacy rate to”99%". (Wikipedia)
Did I miss anything?
UPDATE: PLEASE DO NOT VOTE ON JUANZEN’S COMMENT BEFORE READING MY RESPONSE. Juanzen’s claim–that “poverty went up from 1998 up to 2005 then Chavez himself ordered the methodology to be changed”–is 100% FALSE. The claim is, in fact, **refuted by [the very CEPR rep
TRUNCATED! Please download pandoc if you want to convert large files.
What do you mean by “poverty was reduced”
from “Income and Poverty” section of “Economy Policy of the Hugo Chavez Government” Wikipedia page:
During the past decade under Chavez, the income poverty rate in Venezuela has dropped by more than half, from 54% of households below poverty level in the first half of 2003, down to 26% at the end of 2008. “Extreme poverty” has fallen even more – by 72%. Further, “these poverty rates measure only cash income, and doesn’t take into account increased access to health care or education.”[6][74]
From what I have read Chavez has made the lives of the poor even poorer,
I recommend that you look for other sources of information, because the information you are getting cannot be accurate if it has led you to think that “Chavez has made the lives of the poor even poorer”.
It is not true that Chavez is “driving out business”. I’m sure one can point to a handful of companies have decided it would be more profitable to take their business elsewhere, presumably some country where there is little if any government regulation intended to restrict the exploitation of its people.
If you looked at the official numbers, you would see that, the private sector has actually enlarged under Chavez’s presidency, keeping pace with public sector growth! In 2011, the government’s share of the GDP was the same as it had been in 1998, the year that Chavez was first elected!
Even FOX NEWS has confirmed that **“the private sector still controls two-thirds of Venezuela’s economy**—the same as when Chavez was elected in 1998, according to Central Bank estimates”.
The notion that Chavez “has made the lives of the poor ever poorer” is the most ridiculous claim ever.
During the past decade under Chavez, the income poverty rate in Venezuela has been reduced by more than half, from 54% of households below poverty level in the first half of 2003, down to 26% at the end of 2008. “Extreme poverty” has fallen even more – by 72%. Furthermore, “these poverty rates measure only cash income, and doesn’t take into account increased access to health care or education.” (Wikipedia)
Nearly 80% of the population in Caracas (approximately 4 million people) has been living in the slums for most of their lives–but go ahead and complain about the size of your studio fucking apartment. Poverty in Venezuela increased during the 1980s and 1990s (46% in 1984 to 66% in 1995) but has decreased during the Chávez presidency (48% in 2002 to 24% in 2009). The poverty level is the lowest it has ever been. >During the past decade under Chavez, the income poverty rate in Venezuela has dropped by more than half, from 54% of households below poverty level in the first half of 2003, down to 26% at the end of 2008. “Extreme poverty” has fallen even more – by 72%. Furthermore, “these poverty rates measure only cash income, and doesn’t take into account increased access to health care or education.” (Wikipedia)
The poster said it was one of the poorest countries in the world.
He or she said it was “STILL” one of the poorest countries in the world. That may be true, which is why I pointed out that I was “not disagreeing”. However, extraordinary progress \has\ been made in recent years. I felt that this was a point that should be mentioned, so I mentioned it.
I’m not disagreeing with you, but you make it sound as though there hasn’t been extraordinary progress under Chavez, at least with regard to the issue of poverty.
During the past decade under Chavez, the income poverty rate in Venezuela has dropped by more than half, from 54% of households below poverty level in the first half of 2003, down to 26% at the end of 2008. “Extreme poverty” has fallen even more – by 72%. Further, “these poverty rates measure only cash income, and doesn’t take into account increased access to health care or education.” (Wikipedia)
Wasn’t it better when only the rich committed robbery in this country? Edit: Downvotes? For being funny, and speaking of the truth (that Venezuela has historically been run by an oligarchic regime mostly to the benefit of elites)? It would be odd to think the country is worse now that poverty has been reduced by more than half, and social inequality is now the lowest in Latin America.