Venezuela is now the most expensive country in the world; hands down

Forget Norway. Japan. Iceland. Switzerland. Or any of the other places around the world that are notorious for being painful on the wallet. Venezuela is now the most expensive country in the world, hands down. To give you an idea, the cost of a 15-minute taxi ride to the beach yesterday afternoon totaled an eye-popping $158. (I paid less than that to rent a helicopter in Colombia last week.) With all of its vast mineral resources, Venezuela should be the most prosperous country in Latin America by far. And it once was. But years of corruption, incompetence, and central planning have taken their toll. More...