Chavez raises Venezuelan minimum wage 30 percent



April 30, 2008 9:22 PM

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - President Hugo Chavez is raising Venezuela's minimum wage by 30 percent as inflation continues to soar in the oil-producing nation.



The socialist leader has signed a degree that will fix the monthly minimum wage at U.S. US$372 (euro239), starting May 1, International Workers' Day. Chavez says the move will give Venezuela the highest minimum wage in Latin America.

All public employees' wages will also increase by 30 percent.

If food stamps are taken into account, Chavez says the minimum wage will actually reach U.S. US$558 (euro359).

''There is no socialism without the working class,'' he said Wednesday.

Lousey commie, he's giving away the oil money to [i]poor people![i]

This is not liable to help the inflation issue, nor is it likely to correct the Venezuelan economy. As much as I hate to say it, on this type of issue, the economists tend to be correct. The best way to address the plight of the working class is not to burden their employers with higher forced wages. Generally, increasing extrinsic benefits (health care, education, access to resources, or food availability) is a much safer policy with regards to inflation and monetary policy.

Chavez would be wise to heed the model of West European socialism that managed to keep growth reasonably high and inflation at bay, rather than the Russo-Cuban model that attempts to ignore reality in favor of ideology.