Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse by William Neuman

Masterfully zooming in and out by mixing first-hand stories and expert voices, Neuman cites political scientist Terry Lynn Karl, whose 1970s studies of Venezuela “concluded that virtually everything in the country-its institutions and patterns of government, society and politics, and the economy-had been shaped by oil.” The book starts with a historical survey of the clientelistic structures that have defined the country since oil became its main export.

“The history of Venezuela and oil flows through Mene Grande like the crude oil through the silver pipe”, he writes in the first chapter, referring to the first oil well drilled in the country. Oil plays an outsized role in Venezuelan history-and in Neuman’s book, whose cover shows crude oil spilling across a field. Neuman transforms Venezuelan tragedy into an approachable and rewarding book. The former New York Times Andes region bureau chief’s book is an insightful survey of Venezuela’s downfall, offering valuable lessons about 21st-century populism, authoritarianism, economic mismanagement-and the failure of efforts to contain these forces. How did things end up this way? Things Are Never So Bad That They Can’t Get Worse: Inside the Collapse of Venezuela, a new book by journalist William Neuman, investigates how the country with the largest oil reserves in the world fell into a protracted crisis. A recent local survey found that 95% of the population is poor, while 76% live on less than $1.20 a day. As ad-hoc dollarization and economic liberalization have replaced the country’s hyperinflation and shortages, some claim that the worst is over when it comes to the country’s economic problems.īut Venezuela is far from being fixed. On Venezuelan Twitter and WhatsApp chats, there’s a specific genre of meme poking fun at the idea that Venezuela se arregló (“Venezuela is fixed”).

Things Are Never So Bad That They Can't Get Worse by William Neuman