Don't blame the USA if you're in debt to China
It's convenient to blame the Gringos, but who do you blame if you're main creditors have nothing to do with them? While external factors do affect a nation's economic output, projecting the responsibility for a massive economic collapse on other nations is an indicator of incompetent leadership. Those thinking that you can explain away internal economic collapse by blaming sanctions, the IMF, or "neoliberalism" should at least try to explain why some of the following trends have occurred. And by the same token, the act of commenting on and highlighting the failures of the "Bolivarian Revolution" of Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro should not be construed as an endorsement of military intervention in Venezuela, nor indeed supporting the economic sanctions against the country. Criticism and observation of any nation's behaviour is essential to keeping it accountable to its own citizens as well as to its neighbours and trading pa...