The Venezuelan economy continues its downward spiral as 2015 approaches. Faced with rising domestic expenses that it can no longer meet through dollar income from oil exports alone, Caracas has accelerated measures to increase its money supply since 2012. The central bank has also printed more bolivars to keep up with spending obligations. This expansion of the monetary supply has spurred inflation, which was already exacerbated by government foreign exchange mechanisms and smuggling to Colombia, making food and goods less available to consumers in Venezuela. The decline in global oil prices that began in September has compounded these troubles. Analysis Venezuela’s government has traditionally distributed foreign currency in its economy through the Sicad I and the Sicad II mechanisms. Before August, the Sicad I auctioned about $880 million per month and Sicad II disbursed […]