Venezuela's Collapse Looks More Like Economic Suicide

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has warned us all this week that “a hell of solitude awaits anyone who betrays” his nation’s socialist revolution. Duly noted, Señor Presidente! But we also can’t help noting that nobody’s in a lonelier hell right now than Nicolás Maduro. His approval rating is lower than Miss Venezuela’s neckline, poised to drop below 20 percent. The price of his country's oil, which might as well be Venezuela’s only export these days, sits even lower: less than $40 per barrel, down from more than $100 in June. The International Monetary Fund says his economy will shrink seven percent this year. That’s depression territory. More…