The Death of a Nation

The Death of a Nation | PJ Media:
Adam Smith once observed that "there's a lot of ruin in a nation". 
A lot, but not an infinite amount.  
Venezuela proves that given enough stupidity it is possible to run through even the biggest design margin.
"From the 1950s to the early 1980s the Venezuelan economy was the strongest and most prosperous in South America.
..Unfortunately riches on that scale attract what economists call the curse of plenty, after the observable fact that "countries with an abundance of natural resources, specifically non-renewable resources like minerals and fuels, tend to have less economic growth, less democracy, and worse development outcomes than countries with fewer natural resources."
The problem is that easy money attracts the wrong kind of leaders and incentivizes the wrong kind of public behavior.  
"Countries that rely on natural resource exports may tend to neglect education because they see no immediate need for it.
Resource-poor economies like Singapore, Taiwan or South Korea, by contrast, spent enormous efforts on education."
...But when the Venezuelans sought relief from the ordinarily corrupt governments in a Marxist named Hugo Chavez, they found it was possible to go from bad to worse..."