What is going on in my country?¿

[kLaUS]

hi, im from venezuela, a country that this past years has gain a lot of attention, and not in the good way. As many of you know,the president chavez has gain a lot of opposition in other countries for the way that he manages this country,, or well, the way he manages politics, specially relations whit another countries.But what many of you doesnt know, is the horrible ways that he uses populism in this country to stay in as the president. Is true that a government is lucky that the people is ignorant, because most of the people here believes what he says, agrees with the way he acts, so all what people sees outside, is getting relate with the venezuelan, and i can say this is becoming true. So what im saying is that he doesnt represant all of us, I know thats what a president is suppose to do, but this becomming a socialist ground so fast that we problably not gonna stopped, and i dont think anyone is gonna help us if we dont start to act.
Anyway, besides trashing my president(not my country, i love venezuela), in here to ask what people hear outside, in your countries, i wanna know if president chavez tactic of becoming everyones enemy is really working,or even worse, if his tactic of getting ignored by all the other countries so he can rule here the way he want is working?

[Akimichi Choji]

Well where I live we totally respect Venezuela. I am disgusted with how your president is treating your beautiful country. But I must say from where I stand, I have heard no slander spoken against your people. In fact since I come from a vastly latin american area, your country is revered for its shere beauty. I respect you for speaking out against what is going on in your country, and I truly sympathize with you. Its people like you that lead people like me to further respect other countries, I commend you for your speaking out against the atrocities done against you and your honorable people.

[Finnf00]

I don't like Chavez either, but I wouldn't condemn socialism. I don't like the EU, capitalistism or this neo-liberalism. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more socialism brought into the world. Of course if it's done in all the wrong ways -as in Venezuela- I can understand your point.

[kyubichan]

My sister calls one of the bosses in Majora's Mask "Dominico Chavez"... I always wondered where she got that name..... anyway, I'm from the Philippines and there's no visible sign of any hate or intolerance against your people. Probably coz were having political problems of our own... *SIGH* Here, media is the problem. They "broadcast" so much negative stuff about anything and everything that some people from other countries actually think the rest of the country is so horrible. It would be nasty if our media people and your president worked together... >_O

[Yurika Star]

Atleast you know what's going on in your country...

* Yurika Star watches Chinese TV...

Ohh, Hu Jin Tao is the reincarnation of Budhha, jolly good.

[Neo-Hunter]

Well, I respect your country of Venezuela, But yer president I don't like he's trashing your country and getting into fights with the us and other allies its like he himself wants to go to war with everyone which is not good. I hope you guys in the next election pick someone who isn't like a tryrant.

[Psiknight]

Chavez is considered by many to be a militant leader that has done nothing to help the poor in Venezuela. In my Spanish classes we are taught much about Latin American countries and their political structures. Many Americans view Chavez to be corrupt and a danger to global oil prices (since a large amount of oil is produced in Venezuela).

Personally, I don't have any specific problems with Venezuela but I'm not sure I'd take a vacation there.

[Griveton]

In Mexico, we tend to have a rather small opinion of Chavez (a running joke of popular cartoonist Calderón (http://www.pacocalderon.net) is drawing him as either Shrek or a gorilla and having Chavez refer to himself as the "Mico Mandante"). From what I know, his populist, disrespectful and high-handed ways have landed him the position. This includes, but is not limited to, insulting and threatening our President (not that Fox is so impressive as a politician himself), using mexican folklore and music to disrespect the country, his percieved hipocrisy, his behavior at summits and his policies, and from what I hear, the negative impact he's had on the country. Last I heard, the industry in venezuela was decaying (though oil profits offset this).

As for Venezuela itself, his reign hasn't made us dislike your country or your people at all. I like the country as well and the venezuelans I've met. We just don't like your current head of state very much.

[etane]

The conservative half of my country hates Chavez. The non-conservative half reveres him. All opinions are pretty much bunk.

I like to hear more arguments on how Chavez is dangerous and is a threat to global oil prices. Last time I checked, it's Exxon/Mobil, Conaco/Philips, BP et al that's taking billions from American consumers on a monthly basis; whereas, Citgo sells oil to disadvantaged Americans at producer prices.

It's funny how one can say Venezuela is a threat to global oil prices. In fact, it's funny in the cruelest manner. Iran, Iraq and Venezuela are perhaps the benefactors of lower gas prices as they are the most liberal when it comes to following OPEC pricing guide lines set by Saudi Arabia.

http://www.hermes-press.com/bush_kiss.jpg

And, really, you have polar opposites in terms of governming the populace when comparing the US and Venezeula's platforms. US prefers to let the rich get richer at the cost of a losing middle class, disadvantaged lower class, and all the senior citizens, students and military vets in between. Venezeula nationalizes oil and spread it's wealth amongst the poor. Ofcourse rich people are mad and call this populous. But, this is a country with dreadful poverty problems a decade ago. The situation has improved in the form of free healthcare, schools and such that benefits the populous not the rich.

Well, who's to say who's right. If you're rich or wannabe rich or wannabe conservative, talk crap about Chavez all you want. However, there are plenty of people who think the poor actually deserves healthcare and education, and they are privileges that is not reserved only for the rich.

[f1rst children]

The Bush Administration decided to stop arms sales to Venezuela, and is pressuring Spain and Brazil to do the same. Last year, the US sold ~$34 million in military goods to Venezuela. The US also forbade any American company from reselling foreign-made arms to Venezuela.

Chavez responded by threatening to stop Venezuelan oil exports to the US, claiming it would drive oil prices to $100/barrel. He also threatened to sell his fleet of 21 US-made F-16 fighter jets to Iran.

I don't know if Chavez is everyone's enemy, but he's certainly Bush's.

[etane]

It's almost like a parent threatening to take a child's candy away. It's funny and sad at the same time.

[f1rst children]

It appears Mr. Chavez has much greater dangers to worry about than George W. Bush now.

Video Game Paves Way for US Invasion of Venezuela! (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5016514.stm)

[saturndude]

Hello everyone,

I'm sorry for what is going on in your country. I have a copy of "The Other Path" by Hernando De Soto. It is a dry book about economics. I have a college degree in business, so I can understand it. Even with all this education, there is still very much I do not know!

I don't know *_exactly_* how things are going in Venezuela, or Mexico, or anywhere else. I assume that other countries in Central America and South America may call themselves "capitalist", but with much corruption and bureaucratic rules, nobody can start any businesses, according to this book. I try to read everything I can, but I still know so little.

(EDIT: Does Venezuela have a middle class? How many work in agriculture? Factories/cities? What industries?)

(As a side note, part of me admires all the immigrants from Mexico. If there is no opportunity there for new businesses, better houses, water, electricity, sewers, etc., they come to America and work very, very hard.)

If "capitalism" only works for rich people who have many squads of lawyers, then it does not mean what I thought it means. What does Mr. Chavez' socialism stand for? What is the state of industry, schools, hospitals, electricity and sanitation? What changes does he think he can bring about? Are there human rights abuses while making these changes? If he is buying many weapons, it is possible.

(I am also sorry for things that are happening in the USA. People are not saving for retirement, everything will only cost more in the future. Energy, food, housing, taxes and medical costs. I got new bone marrow last year [transplant for cancer], so I know about medical costs.)

(And the last time I heard, US oil companies were making about 8 percent profit. As a business school graduate, I don't think that is too high. However Federal, state and local governments make about THREE TIMES as much profit as the oil companies, it is called "taxes". And they never go down! We could have more oil by drilling new wells in Alaska, but the government won't allow it because they think the caribou must have sex. Myself, I got the most efficient car I could find, and I drive my 400cc motorcycle to work whenever I can.)

Can anyone post more links so I can read about what is going on in Venezuela?

(I have many more questions, but they will be answered by reading.)

saturndude

[etane]

I am not too familiar with oil industry profit margins. But, I took a gander at Exxon's statement of income.

Anyways, according to their year ending 2005 statement, there's nothing fishy going on. They had a 358 billion total revenue and a 59.5 billion net revenue before taxes. This is about a 16% net revenue percentage which was only 14% and 13% in year ending 2004 and 2003 respectively.

However, crude oil purchases in 2005 was $185 billion versus $139 billion in 2004. This is a 33% increase in crude oil COGS. Yet, crude oil during this time only increased 18% from 55 to 65 dollars per barrel. So, the Exxon company, even with PADDED COGS, is comfortably realizing a 16% net revnue which is very healthy compared to any other large company in other industries. I estimate, had Exxon not padded their COGS, their net revenue before tax percent will be touching 22%, which is a 57% increase over previous year numbers.

[Griveton]

Hello everyone,

I'm sorry for what is going on in your country. I have a copy of "The Other Path" by Hernando De Soto. It is a dry book about economics. I have a college degree in business, so I can understand it. Even with all this education, there is still very much I do not know!

I don't know *_exactly_* how things are going in Venezuela, or Mexico, or anywhere else. I assume that other countries in Central America and South America may call themselves "capitalist", but with much corruption and bureaucratic rules, nobody can start any businesses, according to this book. I try to read everything I can, but I still know so little.

(EDIT: Does Venezuela have a middle class? How many work in agriculture? Factories/cities? What industries?)

(As a side note, part of me admires all the immigrants from Mexico. If there is no opportunity there for new businesses, better houses, water, electricity, sewers, etc., they come to America and work very, very hard.)

If "capitalism" only works for rich people who have many squads of lawyers, then it does not mean what I thought it means. What does Mr. Chavez' socialism stand for? What is the state of industry, schools, hospitals, electricity and sanitation? What changes does he think he can bring about? Are there human rights abuses while making these changes? If he is buying many weapons, it is possible.



I wouldn't trust Mr. De Soto's work very much. He ain't a particularly thorough or scientific investigator.

In this case, your understanding is a little bit exaggerated. While it's true that in ex-colonies beaureucracy and corruption are rampant, it's not as bad as that "no new businesses can thrive". Once businesses can get through all the hoopla, things can work. Usually, the biggest barrier is not from the government, but from the culture.

As for the statistics of Venezuela, I might not be the best person to answer that.

[saturndude]

So things are not as bad as Mr. DeSoto says? That's good news!

>Usually, the biggest barrier is not from the government, but from the culture.

What do you mean? Please do tell us.


etane -

Are you saying that Exxon spent 33 percent more money for crude oil, or that the total cost of goods sold went up 33 percent?

If Exxon spent 33 percent more money for crude oil when the cost per barrel only went up 18 percent, then did Exxon purchase more barrels, and have a really large end-of-year raw materials inventory? Did the currency exchange rate have a big rise/fall over the year? Did Exxon have to pay higher transportation or storage costs to bring the raw materials (barrels) to the refineries' doorsteps?

If the total cost of goods sold went up 33 percent, the cost of refining comes into play. Stopping everything to convert from making gasoline to home heating oil is called overhead I believe, and I'm not sure where repairing after hurricanes did or will fit in.

And if Exxon is using LIFO to keep track of raw oil inventory, things get really weird. I remember LIFO from accounting class, it was HARD (and weird).

My old accounting notes mention adding in "other costs to bring the goods to their present condition and location", I think I've covered most of the possibilities.

You bring up many interesting things. Congratulations, you got me to look in my old college Accounting class notes, and made me think. Now I REALLY wish I had the time to read Exxon's report.

P.S. Correction #1: When local, state and federal governments charge gas taxes for highways, these taxes are charged to the drivers, not the company. I should have been more clear on this. Gas stations just collect act like tax collectors, passing taxes that American drivers pay along to the various governments.

Correction #2: I heard Exxon's profit was 8 percent, I hope my source was correct. I do apologize if it is not.

[Griveton]

So things are not as bad as Mr. DeSoto says? That's good news!

>Usually, the biggest barrier is not from the government, but from the culture.

What do you mean? Please do tell us.

In countries with a big base of poor people (let's take, for example, Mexico, which is right now in danger to falling in the hands of a moronic left-wing pseudosocialist), it's not unusual (to be loved by anyone..) to see a culture of resentment. It's quite simple: Meritocracy and justice cannot exist in the minds of the unsuccessful, as that would mean that the plights of the poor are the fault of the poor. So, well-to-do people must be doing something illegal/immoral/unethical/whatever to be well-off. A common example of this is the "the rich exploit the poor!" mantra of many (poor) socialists.

So, a culture of tripping those on the ladder of success exist. It can also be accompanied by a self-justification that if it's the rich cheating, then the poor has no chance of succeding -this justifies the lack of trying in the first place- and is followed by ridicule (or worse) to those who do try.

The end result is a vicious cycle where the "haves" are hated and blamed by the "have nots" for their disgraces, real or imaginary. Instead of a society which helps pull the weak up, you end with a society that pushes the strong down. Any draconian government stops can be overcome with enough desire. A culture, on the other hand, is harder to overcome.


And if Exxon is using LIFO to keep track of raw oil inventory, things get really weird. I remember LIFO from accounting class, it was HARD (and weird).

My old accounting notes mention adding in "other costs to bring the goods to their present condition and location", I think I've covered most of the possibilities.

You bring up many interesting things. Congratulations, you got me to look in my old college Accounting class notes, and made me think. Now I REALLY wish I had the time to read Exxon's report.

P.S. Correction #1: When local, state and federal governments charge gas taxes for highways, these taxes are charged to the drivers, not the company. I should have been more clear on this. Gas stations just collect act like tax collectors, passing taxes that American drivers pay along to the various governments.

Correction #2: I heard Exxon's profit was 8 percent, I hope my source was correct. I do apologize if it is not.


LIFO is an accounting trick that reduces taxes. The trick is that as time increases, goods appreciate (in most cases, thanks to inflation). So, by accounting all your sales as being the latest inventory, you can inflate your costs, thus reducing your accountable profit margin (while your real profit margin is higher). Because accounting and investment are a zero-sum game, using LIFO can (and usually does) backfire spectacularly once the inventory stocks are depleted, but let's be honest here, when that happens, Exxon's biggest problem won't be having to pay extra taxes.

This also accounts for Exxon's smallish profit margin, even though their spending says otherwise.

[Finnf00]

In countries with a big base of poor people (let's take, for example, Mexico, which is right now in danger to falling in the hands of a moronic left-wing pseudosocialist), it's not unusual (to be loved by anyone..) to see a culture of resentment. It's quite simple: Meritocracy and justice cannot exist in the minds of the unsuccessful, as that would mean that the plights of the poor are the fault of the poor. So, well-to-do people must be doing something illegal/immoral/unethical/whatever to be well-off. A common example of this is the "the rich exploit the poor!" mantra of many (poor) socialists.

So, a culture of tripping those on the ladder of success exist. It can also be accompanied by a self-justification that if it's the rich cheating, then the poor has no chance of succeding -this justifies the lack of trying in the first place- and is followed by ridicule (or worse) to those who do try.

The end result is a vicious cycle where the "haves" are hated and blamed by the "have nots" for their disgraces, real or imaginary. Instead of a society which helps pull the weak up, you end with a society that pushes the strong down. Any draconian government stops can be overcome with enough desire. A culture, on the other hand, is harder to overcome. A purely capitalistic society (like modern day USA) doesn't really help the cause of the poor either. When everything is turned into a race for survival, it usually means people help eachother less (figure of speach naturally, low taxation and powerless workers unions mean rich and successfull people 1 - poor and unsuccessfull people 0). I'm not saying all forms of socialism is beneficial either. But there are ways to divide wealth more evenly among people by not 'tripping those on the ladder of success' all too much. Progressive tax, income-related fines and higher business taxes are just some of the tools to narrow the gap between the rich and the poor. When keeping to some form of moderation, these socialistic measures do work for the benefit of the entire society.

[soundchazer]

Uhmmm...

the U.S. has progressive taxation:

* Income from $1 to $7,300, tax bracket is 10%

* Income from $7,301 to $29,700, tax bracket is 15%

* Income from $29,701 to $71,950, tax bracket is 25%

* Income from $71,951 to $150,150, tax bracket is 28%

* Income from $150,151 to $326,450, tax bracket is 33%

* Income $326,451 and above, tax bracket is 35%

I don't know about income-related fines, but there are expenditure related fines. If you have a bigger house, a newer car or consume more energy, etc. you pay a higher tax/fee.

So thinking of the U.S. as being straight neo-liberal is not quite true either.

[Finnf00]

Uhmmm...

the U.S. has progressive taxation:

* Income from $1 to $7,300, tax bracket is 10%

* Income from $7,301 to $29,700, tax bracket is 15%

* Income from $29,701 to $71,950, tax bracket is 25%

* Income from $71,951 to $150,150, tax bracket is 28%

* Income from $150,151 to $326,450, tax bracket is 33%

* Income $326,451 and above, tax bracket is 35%

I don't know about income-related fines, but there are expenditure related fines. If you have a bigger house, a newer car or consume more energy, etc. you pay a higher tax/fee.

So thinking of the U.S. as being straight neo-liberal is not quite true either.Sorry, coming from a society where the top end of the tax table is close to 65%, where schools and hospitals are free for all, etc. I have a highly distorted view on this. It's true, The States aren't 100% non-socialist. Somewhere along the way you even got a few (admittedly weak) workers unions etc. I still concider your form of society to be a lot closer to pure capitalism than a moderate middle road.

[soundchazer]

The way I see it, 65% taxes are not fair either. You are basically telling those who could make and effort to create business that it is not worth it since 2/3s of their hard earned money are not theirs to keep. So what is the incentive for the creators, innovators and business owners?

[etane]

Saturn, what Griveton said. Cept, I don't know if Exxon or any other oil company is using LIFO. Supposedly, they are pricing according to oil commodity futures value. So, this would be for the first time that an industry uses a brand new inventory costing system, NIFO, Not In First Out.

Oh, and for most part of the year, the dollar exchange rate was at a favorable 1.17 vs euro until last month. So, exchange rate shouldn't explain the increase in COGS.

Oh, and the NI% is actually around 12% not 18%(without adjusting for COGS padding) for 2005. I forgot to minus tax when I was inputting on my spreadsheet yesterday.

[Finnf00]

The way I see it, 65% taxes are not fair either. You are basically telling those who could make and effort to create business that it is not worth it since 2/3s of their hard earned money are not theirs to keep. So what is the incentive for the creators, innovators and business owners?Well, surprisingly most people view this as a fair deal. By definition, socialism means individual citizens have the responisbility to do as much for eachother as possible. In other words, if you can pay more taxes you should do so and thus help people with less possibilities of contributing. After all, all Finnish citizens have enjoyed a liftime of free schools and health care, all payed for by the government. This is the strongest reason why people pay their high taxes without too many complaints. Besides, income tax is only applied to your salary. Income from shares and options, real estates and such fall under a separate wealth tax, which is significantly lower and (if I'm not completely mistaken) equal for all people, so against all odds, even we have our share of the ridiculously rich.

Of course this has also much to do with the high level of education. All that tax revenue means a real surplus of highly educated people, ready to make any business flourish. I think this is one of the points often missed when people criticize higher taxes.

Edit: Forgot one thing. All forms of culture -ranging from litterature to movies to theater and ballet, even perfomance arts and sports- are supported financially by the government. If people weren't paying these high taxes, the large majority of artists, writers, film makers and sportsmen and women would be left without any form of income. It is true that a large sum of this money comes from the state controlled gambling and betting agency, but most of the money is pure tax revenue.

[kLaUS]

The conservative half of my country hates Chavez. The non-conservative half reveres him. All opinions are pretty much bunk.

I like to hear more arguments on how Chavez is dangerous and is a threat to global oil prices. Last time I checked, it's Exxon/Mobil, Conaco/Philips, BP et al that's taking billions from American consumers on a monthly basis; whereas, Citgo sells oil to disadvantaged Americans at producer prices.

It's funny how one can say Venezuela is a threat to global oil prices. In fact, it's funny in the cruelest manner. Iran, Iraq and Venezuela are perhaps the benefactors of lower gas prices as they are the most liberal when it comes to following OPEC pricing guide lines set by Saudi Arabia.

And, really, you have polar opposites in terms of governming the populace when comparing the US and Venezeula's platforms. US prefers to let the rich get richer at the cost of a losing middle class, disadvantaged lower class, and all the senior citizens, students and military vets in between. Venezeula nationalizes oil and spread it's wealth amongst the poor. Ofcourse rich people are mad and call this populous. But, this is a country with dreadful poverty problems a decade ago. The situation has improved in the form of free healthcare, schools and such that benefits the populous not the rich.

Well, who's to say who's right. If you're rich or wannabe rich or wannabe conservative, talk crap about Chavez all you want. However, there are plenty of people who think the poor actually deserves healthcare and education, and they are privileges that is not reserved only for the rich.

ok,, hi again, i opened this thread with one intention, to see what are you hearing in your countries , what are you believing from this news, and what are your opinions, and i think is great that all the capitalism and economy conversation begin in here.. but , i see that you are buying to much of the crap that comes out of this goverment mouth...

you think(the person im quoting) that is ok for chavez to take advantage of the actual situation of the oil(with the speculation and the high prices), because is a plus for our economy, but not really, he is just using this upper hand position to have something in advantage and eventually using it as a tread, and all the "plans" as are they call here for the healthcare and education are just horrible covers, we see it in here that those are just lame reforms and bad education that will not work in the long run, of course ignorant people will buy this and will take any penny that comes as a gift.

dont missunderstand me, i think that poor people deserves privileges, but is done in a wrong way, that just look for more votes and more followers so this populist guy feed on ...

and about the economy, maybe im not complaining(i dont really know to much about it), but were not exactly in the best position, and i consider that we should be a very rich country with the natural recurses that we own.

anyway, i would like you to keep saying things, and keep with the discussion, but dont tell me that were the only ones seen the true, that were the only ones seen chavez in nacional television showing proudly the new K-47(rifles) that he bougth to protect us from U.S, the training that he is apliying in civilians in the coast to protect from invasion, the intervention that he did in the elections in peru that change the results(and by the way we are aparently breaking relations with them ), so all this fear and violence that he is putting in this country, i dont want it to be ignore...

[etane]

I am not sure I am following you.

So you are disagreeing with the way Chavez is going about his business but don't disagree with the results?