by Fausta Rodríguez Wertz
Lefties firmly believe the deceased Hugo Chavez “improved the economy drastically and ameliorated poverty drastically” because GDP went up, and fewer people were living below the poverty line by the time he died last year.
The numbers are there: GDP did go up, and yes, fewer people were listed as living below the poverty line. Whose numbers?
The numbers came from the Venezuelan government.
The International Monetary Fund keeps a List of IMF Member Countries with Delays in Completion of Article IV Consultations or Mandatory Financial Stability Assessments Over 18 Months. As of the writing of this post, Venezuela hasn’t held an Article IV consultation with the IMF in 99 months.
Let me translate that into plain English: The Venezuelan government has not allowed its own numbers to be verified for almost a decade.
Read the rest of my article at Da Tech Guy Blog
UPDATE:
Linked to by Babalu. Thank you!
Must-read: The hidden numbers of Chávez’s legacy, by @danielragua
About that GDP:
Linked by Doug Ross. Thank you!
Thank goodness we live in a country where we can trust what the government tells us!