US sanctions against Venezuela are barbaric and immoral. But, they are not responsible for the economic collapse that has transpired in Venezuela over the past twenty years. Yes, the sanctions have further reduced the standard of living in Venezuela, and the burden of relative impoverishment caused by the sanctions has fallen hardest on those at the lowest end of the socio-economic ladder.

However, the effects of these US-imposed sanctions have not been nearly broad enough to be responsible for the general collapse of economic conditions that we now see in that country.

We can all probably agree that this has been one of the strangest Julys in memory. From the attempt on Trump’s Life to the Republican National Convention to the bizarre “coup” against Biden in the Democratic Party. With all this, it’s easy to forget some truly momentous events that happened this month.

Imagine you are the foreman of a factory. Inside the factory are two machines. Both machines consume materials, energy, and labor and produce the same product, perhaps cars, or toasters, or pencils. However, one of the machines, given the same inputs, produces far fewer of that product. Assume that inputs for maintenance to keep the machines running indefinitely are included in the consumption numbers.