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Presenting The Nominees For Dumbest Government Of 2014
Submitted by Simon Black via Sovereign Man blog,
Each year governments around the world seem to compete with one another to come up with the dumbest and worst policies possible. But which one is the stupidest?
The competition is indeed tight as there are just so many terrible entries to consider. But my team and I took some time over the holidays to narrow it down.
We’ll leave it to you to help decide which one should be crowned Dumbest Government of 2014.
In order to cast your vote, leave a comment on our Facebook page, or on Twitter (@thesovereignman #stupidestgov2014), and we’ll release the results later this week.
It is difficult to quantify policy stupidity, as this is one area in which governments can be exceptionally creative. So we’ve decided to set some criteria to help make comparisons.
The two main measurements we look at are greatest damage done to personal freedom and economic activity.
We’re also looking at the biggest relative decline in the past year, not merely the worst government in absolute terms—otherwise North Korea would have topped the list for the past few decades.
This year we’ve seen a significant move in the digital world towards spying, censorship, and limitations of free speech amongst many of the top contestants.
Economies have been destroyed the world over by wars on other countries, wars on free markets, and wars on sound money—increasing volatility and frightening away brains, businesses, and capital.
With that in mind, the nominees are [drumroll]…
1. Russia
Undoubtedly the first country that comes to mind, with its decision to invade Ukraine.
In response, capital has fled and the ruble has plummeted. Over $55 billion in reserves have been used so far to prop up the currency.
The damage to the economy has been so great that Apple alone is now worth more than the entire Russian stock market. (Investors—pay attention to this).
The government has responded with even more stupidity, as it has attempted to crack down on dissent by requiring bloggers to register with the government and most recently banning the use of the word “crisis” in public.
This is a country that has gone from bad to worse with incredible speed this past year, and Russians have some very tough times ahead of them with the economy in severe recession.
2. Venezuela
Failing to foresee the consequences of one’s actions is a common flaw amongst politicians around the world, but with none is it as obvious as in the case of Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
Completely ignoring the laws of supply and demand, he imposed strict price controls, which resulted in shortages across the board, including even basic necessities such as toilet paper, flour, cooking oil, and sugar.
In the time since, Venezuela’s government has gone to ludicrous lengths to respond to shortages. They’ve tried everything—except allowing prices to be set freely.
Mr. Maduro has deployed the military to patrol grocery stores, has required people to have numbers on their arms to track their purchases, and has even implemented fingerprinting systems to do the same.
You can tell how poorly mismanaged the country is given that Venezuela, which has some of the top oil reserves in the world, still has to import oil.
And when people poured out into the streets to protest, Maduro’s forces cracked down viciously.
This may have postponed the government’s collapse for now, but Mr. Maduro has ensured that when the day comes, la revolucion will not be peaceful.
3. Argentina
With one of the highest inflation rates in the world right now, at roughly 40%, another economic disaster is the case of Argentina.
Despite officials’ attempts to misrepresent inflation statistics and targeting of economists who try to publish more accurate figures, no one is fooled.
Thanks to the country’s Supply Law introduced earlier this year, companies have been prohibited from setting their prices too high, generating too much profit, or producing too little.
Importers are required to export the same value they import, while currency controls have been enforced by currency-sniffing dogs to prevent capital flight.
Of course let’s not forget that Argentina defaulted on its debt yet again this past summer as well.
4. Thailand
Anyone familiar with the Thai government’s scheme of subsidizing rice purchases from farmers could have told you it would fail. For in the space of a single year, the program cost $12.5 billion to wastefully stockpile 18 million tons of rice that is now rotting away in government warehouses.
Thailand’s position as the world’s leading rice exporter is not the only thing that toppled as a result of this obtuse policy. The country experienced yet another coup when the government was toppled by a military junta back in May.
Shortly thereafter the military imposed martial law.
Stability was regained momentarily, but the country has been on a continuous decline ever since, with increasingly harsh crackdowns on dissenters.
In recent months people have been sentenced to two years in prison for something as innocuous as raising the Hunger Games’ three-finger salute.
5. United States
Last but not least there is of course the United States.
Once thought of as the Land of the Free, the country has now dropped to 12th place in last year’s Economic Freedom of the World Index, behind the United Arab Emirates and Jordan.
Government debt levels soared to unprecedented $18 trillion this November, and nothing is being done about it, with unfunded liabilities well over $200 trillion.
As a percentage of GDP, official debt now exceeds 100%. Of course, the only reason they’re able to run such a prodigious debt is because the rest of the world buys Treasuries and uses US dollars.
So you’d think that the US government would go out of its way to treat the rest of the world with respect and dignity in gratitude for continuing to buy US debt.
But no.
2014 showed the US government taking a giant, steaming dump on the generosity of foreigners, chasing away friend and foe alike.
They were caught spying on their own allies. They extorted foreign banks (a single fine against French bank BNP Paribas totaled $9 BILLION).
They used credit rating agencies as political pawns (downgrading Russia back in April).
They destroyed their own balance sheet and that of the Federal Reserve. (The US is totally insolvent, and on a mark to market basis, the Fed is nearly insolvent).
And they passed insane regulations, then arrogantly commanded the rest of the world to comply.
Most notably, key provisions from the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act were implemented in 2014.
This law should have never been passed. And they had years to undo it.
It’s amazing how many politicians got worked up about repealing Obamacare, but not a single soul gave a damn about repealing FATCA, the law which will probably be directly responsible for the US losing its status as the world’s dominant banking center.
Oh yeah, that happened too. 2014 saw the rest of the world get fed up. Developing nations led by China banded together to create their own reserve bank to compete directly with the IMF.
Mission accomplished.
—————
So now it’s your turn. Vote which country’s government was the worst last year. Either as a comment on this Facebook post or as a tweet to us with @thesovereignman #stupidestgov2014.
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... you're right, Bottom ... cut & paste ... because I wrote it too ... :)
OK, my fingers got cramps just moving my mouse back to the beginning of the post/article/book to see if you were the OP author.
There must be a way to get your point across in a less voluminous manner?
>>> "There must be a way to get your point across in a less voluminous manner?"
... not my problem Bottom ... it's a satirical piece ... and intended only for people whose IQ is a bit above that of earthworms ...
>>> "my fingers got cramps just moving my mouse back to the beginning of the post/article/book to see if you were the OP author. "
... hey, lighten up ... but don't pretend you have what it takes to write something worthwhile to read because your "cut & paste comment" which you might equate to " ha-ha wisdom" is not a product of schooling, but of the lifelong attempt to pretend to acquire it ... ... and one last thing Bottom, do not let anyone define your limits ... do it yourself so you could claim success in your failures ...
Nobody is fucking reading that
Okay Moonie, they say that nobody is perfect. Then they tell you practice makes perfect. I wish that someday I’d meet nobody and ask him how he practices. :)
He practices cutting and pasting shit that he thinks is just the best shit ever, the rest of us? not so much
... "the rest of us?" ... the rest of us idiots ... there I fixed it for you
... and speak for yourself moonie ... :) ... the majority here are not idiots like you ...
... there's nothing wrong with my cutting and pasting from my own writing and from my own computer ... and btw, my satirical article above that you so mouth-frothingly hate was given an editor's award at a British writer's guild ... it was an old piece I wrote several years back ... so, if you can't get this through that envious head of yours, you're nothing but an earthworm troll ... and like I'd written for "Bottom", I'll tell you too that it's only intended for people whose IQ is above that of earthworms ...
The British Writers Guild?
Oh forgive me.
As for envious? Fucking spare me. I have come to realize that people who need to remind the rest of us how smart they are are usually just dicks.
You have no idea who I am, what I do or my IQ. I am telling you this without a doubt my IQ is higher than yours.
Have a nice day fuckstick
... >>> "I am telling you this without a doubt my IQ is higher than yours."
... sure fucktard ... no wonder you drive 38 miles each way to work ... >>> http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-01-09/crashing-crude-unambiguously-bad-these-americans#comment-5643403 ...
... read what you wrote ... >>> "I am telling you this without a doubt my IQ is higher than yours." ..."I have come to realize that people who need to remind the rest of us how smart they are are usually just dicks." ...
... well, there you go, you said it yourself ... you fucking retard :) ...
... normally, I don't tolerate such manifestations of rudeness from assholes like you, Moonie ... because your rudeness only shows your lack of education and your rudeness is just a manifestation of your limp-wristed envy and fear ... a fear of being branded a total idiot (and I'm being kind here ) ... and I have a distinct feeling that you are only brave behind your keyboard ...
... btw, fyi, English is not my mother tongue, and I speak and write in several languages, I don't live in the UK, and it was not "The British Writers Guild" (you, as a retard, would change the meaning of what I'd written) ... I wrote "a" British writers guild ... only because the writers' group is based in England ... however, I write novels and short stories mainly in English ... (and don't be envious of that too) ...
s/ ... so, I'm sure, since you drive 38 miles each way to work, your so-called IQ would be higher than mine ... /s ... I wouldn't wish you a nice day 'cause I don't wish dickhole-fucktards a nice day ... :)
bored
There are two ways to live and be bored Volko: you can live as if nothing is a miracle or you can live as if you’re a miracle trying to achieve nothing. :)
There are far worse candidates than the courtries mentioned above, but, as stated, the author is cleraly a tool. A moron.
Ukraine comes to mind as a quasi-(pseudo)country with most stupid and corrupt gov officials, I think.
// '; filtry.appendChild(div); }); })(); // ]]>// '; filtry.appendChild(div); }); })();]]>I cannot find an article about Ukrainian defence minister saying how Putin threw a nuclear bomb on Ukraine (and apparent from the text, it was clearly not meant as a joke: that moron seriously thought that nuclear device had been thrown at Donetsk and he personally blamed Putin for it. I think that kind of stupidity mixed with such patological lies is not a common sight, not even in this, a product of some decades of Zionist rape and rampage, world.
// '; filtry.appendChild(div); }); })(); // ]]>// '; filtry.appendChild(div); }); })();]]>Ukraine has never been a sovereign nation.
Yeah, Russia is dumb to not submit herself to USSA imperialism and Kiev Nazi... s/
Meanwhile Ukraine got three foreign nationals at their "government", got Goxxed 42 Tons of Gold and on top of that the 1% remaining is lead, without telling that her currency is in worser shape than the Ruble...
Surprised that she is not in the top 5, in fact she must be in the top 3.
How about Japan who is just killing itself with it's currency devaluation ?
For Apple and most US stock market cap are just QE, free monies inflating bubbles.
Buy low, sell high, just play with it.
Maybe is dumb to buy Russian stock right now, but it's dumber to enter long SP500 at 2100.
When you see P/E of 1000 or even 10,000, there is nothing wrong of course...
Then, all fiat currency goes to zero, so it's a non sequitur.
Stopped reading the second this fucktard said Russia, because they invaded Ukraine
Don't worry, Biden's son has got our back over there.
For me it's gotta be the USA. "For you the blind who once could see, the bell tolls for thee"
2014 might have been the year of "Peak Big-government Ideas".
Now is the time whenever a government official, elected or otherwise, speaks of "ideals", or "together", or "sacrifice", to spit in their faces.
Oddly, the NYPD lead the way Everyone should turn their backs.
Lots of western propaganda about an Russian economic crash and a completely undocumented invasion of Ukraine.
I stopped read with "Russia's decision to invade Ukraine"
get lost Simon
USrael über alles und alle!
Russia invaded Ukraine?
Is that like when they attacked Georgia in 2008, or that time Putin killed the Easter bunny with the tooth fairy's wand?
Neocon plz.
Fail!!!!! What is this bogus propaganda. As soon as you read Russia invades Ukraine, you instantly know some shill piece of trash wrote this. Where the fuck is the genocidal regime of Israel? Or that limey puppet Cameron and his government. Or that whore Merkel and her government? And USA is at the bottom LMFAO of this list. WOW. This post belongs on the front page of Reddit not ZH...FAIL!!
Asia countries using dollar as reserve currency no more
North Korea government praised Sony hacking
Australia exports rare earth waste dumping to third world countries
Saudi dumping sand oil
Switzerland and Singapore facilitates stealth asset ownership
Japan not solving aging population through loosening migration
Japan keeps printing
China's 1997 Hong Kong promise
Malaysia's deforestation
India's gold import ban
Europe's minimum wage and youth joblessness
Canada and US shale oil exploration investment
Southern Philipines' autonomous militants
This guy is just plain totally full of shit. Can one pay to get their garbage published here, like about asteroids and stuff?
Remember HH is a "Thrivalist", not just a Survivalist.
Personally I'm in the "die right away" camp. Any major impact would change the planetary ecosystems in a completely unpredictable manner, as well as (possibly) initiating a period of increased vulcanism. Seeing as the Yellowstone magma chamber is filling up nicely, that alone would certainly "add to the post-apocalyptic excitement", along with global warming / cooling / whatever :-). Rather miss out on that experience thanks . . . . .
Russia invaded Ukraine, thanks for the propaganda ZH.
The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging attention. It must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over. Here, as so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success. -Adolf Hitler
Every country involved with Ukriane coup....
blood on hands...
French Hollande backtracks now..Russia better off without mistrals, take refund penalties, and more rubles
This article is a joke. Russia was not the invader. WTF Tyler?
Russia
---Undoubtedly the first country that comes to mind, with its decision to invade Ukraine.---
--- In order to cast your vote, leave a comment on our Facebook page, or on Twitter (@thesovereignman #stupidestgov2014), and we’ll release the results later this week.--
I will never read another column from this ussa gov stooge. I sure hope ZH didn't pay to post this. And even at my advanced age I am nowhere stupid enough to post or vote on Fu*kbook or Twiddle
Hey Simon says... Remember "Fuck the EU?
I'm surprised Simon Black has drunk the cool-aid. Russia invaded Ukraine? Uh...........
Hey, check this article out, as it's quite insightful understanding the rise of CNAS.
"Project For A New American Century (PNAC) Reboot: CNAS, the democratic version of conquest imperialism"
http://thenewsdoctors.com/?p=265152
"with its decision to invade Ukraine"
That was as far as I got. Terrible...
Ukrainian and Polish, ex aequo.
Simon Black you are a very stupid person.
Actually, he's not, and that's the problem.
Stupidest article award ever goes to this writer. The USA.Gov is by the far the stupidestt, most evil, most immoral government in the world. Ever since they killed JFK this has been the case.
I nominate Chicago.
Uhhhhhmmmm...
...Ukraine?
I've maintained the notion for years that Simon Black is a 5th-grader on his mom's computer.
Now I think perhaps he's Tommy Gilbert. After writing this bomb, he probably lost a lot of paying subscribers.
So invasion into Ukraine puts you at #1, typo, should be U.S.CIA. Simon must have mustered this one in the tub.
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/simon/n10103
If the TPP that isn't being openly debated in the wells of the House and Senate isn't bad enough...
What seals the deal for the U.S. being the #1 scum fucker of the World in 2014 along with winning "gold" in all categories of dumb for 13 consecutive years!
I'm not aware "the rest of the world buys Treasuries". I thought the Fed is buying most of our debt and most countries are de-dolarizing.
I'm also not aware that Putin invaded Ukraine. He did have a 40 yr lease on Crimea and had a right to be there.
Venezuela
Russia/Putin there seems to be a method to the madness. Creating, re-creating the empire.
Argentina is a close 2nd as it is clearly self-inflicted.
But nothing compares to the depths at which Venezuela/Marudo will sink to, the shear craziness. I could not have crafted a better way to alienate every other country and company that what Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro has done. You get the senses that president Marudo really believes what he is saying.
Venezuela wins.
Like watching a volcano about to erupt; you know it is coming but don't know when. (Willy Wanka; "The suspense is terrible...I hope it'll last.")
Venezuela
Russia/Putin; there seems to be a method to the madness. Creating, re-creating the empire.
Argentina is a close 2nd as it is clearly self-inflicted.
But nothing compares to the depths at which Venezuela/Marudo will sink to, the shear craziness. I could not have crafted a better way to alienate every other country and company that what Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro has done. You get the senses that president Marudo really believes what he is saying.
But Venezuela wins.
Like watching a volcano about to erupt; you know it is coming but don't know when it will blow. (Willy Wanka; "The suspense is terrible...I hope it'll last.")
Ontario CANADA is just like Greece in terms of governance. Premier Kathleen Wynne is a Linguistics major and has no ability to govern
a popcorn stand let alone a province in CANADA. The Ontario Government should be on the list IMHO.
I stopped reading the comments after reading for the umpteenth time that somebody else stopped reading the article at the same point that I stopped!
I had to reset my password to log on just now, all just to say what a piece of arse this was.
Thankyou