The Book
In praise of Blogging the Revolution
“Caracas Chronicles has been an indispensable source of lucidity and perspective in these turbulent times in Venezuela. Toro and Nagel have been right on target, without pretending to be ludicrously impartial; they have been able to rise above polarization, trying hard to make sense of an often implausible reality. Blogging the Revolution shows them at their best. If you are not already a fan, you will become one.”
- Francisco J. Monaldi, RFK Visiting Professor at Harvard Kennedy School and Director, Center on Energy at IESA in Caracas.Recent Comments
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Category Archives: Conditional Cash Transfers
The crowded bandwagon (cont)
Note: Long-time reader Dago takes the Torres/Monaldi/Morales/Rodríguez proposal for handing out oil rents to citizens and then taxing them, and frames it in an interesting, approachable way. He also talks about the likely amount we’re dealing with here, and he … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers, Politics, The Economy
76 Comments
Money for nothing and your lights for free
There really should be a word for it: the systematic mismatch between the things that cause outrage in our public sphere and the ones that cripple our society’s capacity to offer folks a decent life. Kleptodysplasia, maybe? That’s what was … Continue reading
Posted in Chavismo, Conditional Cash Transfers, Corruption, Electric Crisis, infrastructure, Venezuelan Culture
Tagged Diesel, Kleptodysplasia, rant
11 Comments
The turn-off
Recently, opposition candidate Henrique Capriles responded to chavista suggestions that he would do away with Chávez’s landmark social programs, the Misiones. In a videotaped reply, Capriles doubled down, promising to improve the Misiones. His response was wrong on many levels. … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers, Politics, Society
85 Comments
Kimi Kash
So, this may not be the part of this last week I will remember the most, but it is the one bit of becoming a parent in Québec that I can hang a Caracas Chronicles post on. After Kimi was … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers
91 Comments
Who will be the Steve Jobs of the CCT?
So I had a fun back-and-forth with P. Challenger in comments about what it might take to end Venezuela’s insane – I really don’t think there’s another word for it – gasoline subsidy. For Challenger, any move to dismantle this … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers
52 Comments
Worst. Social policy. Ever!
Imagine a candidate who went to the country with this message: Compatriotas! When I am president, I will finally spread the oil wealth fairly. What I’ll do is, I’ll split the country up into four income brackets. To each of … Continue reading
Conditional cash transfers suck …
… or so says this new paper by Javier Báez of the World Bank and Adriana Camacho of Bogotá’s Universidad de los Andes. The authors wants to measure the long-term effects of CCTs by looking at both participation rates and achievement in … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers
66 Comments
One more call for volunteers
Just a reminder that CaracasChronicles is still looking for volunteer geeks, data-heads and assorted hangers-on to carry out a unique research project: crowdsourcing a specific, costed, budgeted, worked out model for a Conditional Cash Transfer scheme in Venezuela on the basis of … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers
Tagged CCT, Volunteers
The $9 billion question
So, if we’re now using technology to make sure gasoline isn’t sold across the border … why can’t we use it to make sure we only subsidize gas for people who really need it? Just askin’… (HT: Kepler) #28 … … Continue reading
If Linux can do it…
I’m still more or less floored by the response to my call for volunteers to craft a Conditional Cash Transfer Program proposal. There’s amazing expertise out there. I’m only a little bit concerned I won’t really have the resources to … Continue reading
Posted in Conditional Cash Transfers
Tagged Open Source, Volunteers
Volunteer Heaven!
The response to my Call for Volunteers last week has been amazing…so many dataheads, so little time! Thanks so much to everyone who’s written in. (And to those I haven’t managed to talk to yet – please look for me … Continue reading
Volunteer as a Caracas Chronicles Research Intern!
CaracasChronicles is looking for volunteer data-heads to help carry out a unique research project ahead of the 2012 Presidential Elections. Parlez-vous Stata? Do you have 2 to 10 hours a week to contribute to a crowdsourced social research project over … Continue reading
The Targetting vs. Universality Debate
A key issue any future opposition government is going to have to deal with is a very old one in First World social policy, but one barely talked about in our public sphere: should the government extend new social benefits … Continue reading
Revolutionary Priorities
The blue bars are the government’s 2011 spending budget. The orange bar is our estimate of the opportunity cost of selling gas below the world price.
Wonky. Specific. Bread-and-butter Centered. Straightforward.
I think Julio Borges’s attacks on Chávez’s foreign largesse are getting more and more effective: with the $13.5 billion Venezuela sends abroad in various subsidized oil schemes to bolster Chávez’s political allies, you could afford to get rid of Value Added … Continue reading
