Please join us as 2016-2017 Knight-Bagehot Fellows Stephen Kurczy and Silvana Ordoñez interview former Fellow Raúl Gallegos, ’81, on his new book, “Crude Nation: How Oil Riches Ruined Venezuela.”

Crude Nation tells the story of a country addicted to oil riches. The book explores the everyday economic reality that makes Venezuela – the nation with the world’s largest oil reserves – a ticking time bomb. It brings to life an upside down world where people buy and sell U.S. dollars in secret, and smuggle gasoline and food for a living. Drivers fill their gas tanks almost for free and used cars never lose their value over time. Venezuela’s consumers assume as much debt as they can handle and, paradoxically, spend their money on breast implants and flat screen TVs to safeguard their wealth. In Venezuela, only the ignorant save money; smart people max out their credit cards whenever possible.

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