Venezuela’s economy has collapsed. Unfortunately, most people mistakenly believe Venezuela’s policies created a successful economy prior to the collapse in oil prices. The truth is that Venezuela’s socialist policies held back its economy during the oil boom and are the direct cause of its economic collapse today. Upon Hugo Chavez death in 2013, and before the collapse in oil prices, Salon published an article titled “Hugo Chavez’s Economic Miracle” that praised the success of his brand of socialism. Salon was far from alone. Numerous left-leaning pundits and celebrities, and even some very influential economists, have held up Venezuela as a rare example of a successful socialist economy. For example, in a 2007 speech sponsored by the Bank of Venezuela, Joseph Stiglitz — 2001 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences and former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank — claimed that “Venezuela’s economic growth […]