The Banco Industrial de Venezuela, the biggest state-owned venezuelan bank has gone bankrupt countless times since 1938. This might be its last. And for good.

The Chinese central bank announced it has nearly double its gold reserves since 2003. In the meantime, Venezuelans scramble to get US dollars from the parallel market. What are the implications of the Chinese move into gold and why should you care about it?

Both the IMF and Hugo Chávez favour bank naionalization. What else is new?

The Venezuelan government delays the necessary economic reforms, in spite of a global financial crisis. It might be too late when they finally act and then they will probably impose the wrong measures.

The Venezuelan government has indicated it plans to fund 85% of the 1 billion US$ in capital for the new ALBA bank. For everyday venezuelans this a no-win proposition from the economics point of view. Political considerations are more important to the Chávez administration.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), is depicted by socialists as a friend and promoter of free markets. However, beyond its rhetoric, its actions and recommendations are far from free market friendly. This time they recommend Central American countries to hike tax collection in the middle of a recession.

The venezuelan central bank reported inflation in November went up 2.3%. This year alone the NCPI has increased by more than 27% and by the end of the year it will likely be over 30%.