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Just consider this small absurdity: President Nicolás Maduro has refused, on several occasions, to authorize printing larger-denomination banknotes. The largest bill currently is worth less than $0.10. This has caused havoc in the payment system and in the functioning of banks and ATMs – a source of untold nuisances to the public.
So the relevant question is: why would a government adopt harmful policies, and why would society go along? The chaos into which Venezuela has fallen may seem to be beyond belief. In fact, it is a product of belief.
Whether policies sound crazy or sensible depends on the conceptual paradigm, or belief system, that we use to interpret the nature of the world we inhabit. What looks crazy under one paradigm may seem like plain common sense under another....
...Harvard’s Rafael Di Tella has shown that the fundamental determinant of public policy choices is the public’s beliefs. In countries where people regard the poor as unlucky, they want redistribution; where they regard them as lazy, they don’t. Where people believe that businesses are corrupt, they want more regulation; and, with enough regulation, the only successful businesses are corrupt. So beliefs may even be self-perpetuating....
... Trump
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