Stefan Balabanoff

Economista, Abogado, Prof. UCV, Arte, ciencia, deporte, tenacidad -Festina lente. Ah! Una gran combinación para vivir. No es fácil, pero es maravillosa la vida!

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

THE DEVASTATION OF VENEZUELA
In his monumental work “The Wheels of Commerce”,* economic historian Fernand Braudel described the vital interplay between Fixed Capital and Circulating Capital for a country's economic activity. To illustrate this, he relied upon a brilliant metaphor used by economist Heinrich Von Storch (1820) to instruct the Grand Dukes of Russia, Nicholas (the future Tsar) and his brother Michael, about the importance of circulating capital. Von Storch assumed an extremely wealthy nation, with an enormous amount of capital in productive land, residential structures, bridges, canals, factories, workshops, machinery, and tools. Upon being invaded by barbarians, this nation is stripped entirely of its circulating capital—all rations, raw materials, and manufactured consumer goods—leaving its physical assets of production completely intact. This theft causes an immediate interruption to all labor and induces widespread famine; workers lacked the daily food to subsist, animals to till the land, and industry the raw materials to function. Without the vital flow of its circulating capital, the country was brought to its knees, condemned to absolute poverty and death—characteristics of all ancient warfare.

With analytical wit, Braudel inverts the plot by suggesting that barbarians vandalize that nation, but instead of draining the circulating capital, completely destroy all fixed capital—machinery and equipment, tools of labor, infrastructure (buildings, schools, hospitals, factories, bridges, and highways), and everything required to produce consumer goods and services. The resulting paralysis and misery would alter the country's way of life just as catastrophically as Von Storch’s scenario. Braudel concludes by noting that each one is important to the other. He described them as a “two-speed engine.” Circulating capital—comprising money, labor, and raw materials—is consumed and reproduced rapidly in each operational cycle, acting as the indispensable input required to physically produce and sustain fixed capital goods. Without this constant material feed, the creation or maintenance of capital goods becomes physically impossible, and the fixed structure is condemned to rapid decay and permanent paralysis.

It is clear that neither Von Storch nor Braudel ever imagined, in their worst nightmares, Hugo Chávez, Nicolás Maduro, and the criminal faction accompanying them. They did not merely disrupt the system; they simultaneously dismantled both Venezuela's fixed and circulating capital, burying the country under an unconstitutional public debt entirely appropriated by corrupt elements within the state apparatus.

The surviving regime itself estimates this unapproved burden at 240 billion dollars—a bill that the autocrats and their cronies will ultimately have to settle themselves. Indeed, Articles 312, 150, and 187 (numeral 9) of the 1999 Constitution textually invalidate this debt burden, firmly categorizing it under the international Doctrine of Odious Debt, which also applies to the blatant misuse of funds. Consequently, no lender can claim ignorance.

Aggressive seigniorage was deployed to finance the fiscal deficit—which they caused through institutionalized corruption—alongside the imposition of the highest inflationary tax in the world. These actions pulverized the national currency, destroying its function as a store of value and systematically crushing domestic consumption capacity.

To make matters worse, the double earthquake of June 24, 2026, was added today to this productive desert—an event and date that must never be forgotten due to the humanitarian catastrophe that exacerbates the devastating diagnosis for Venezuela. Chavismo did not just execute simple economic mismanagement; they carried out a systematic, deliberate destruction of both gears of the economic engine. Through a predatory policy of expropriations, confiscations, and asphyxiating price and currency controls, the regime first choked the daily cash flow of the economy. They looted circulating capital to enrich themselves while ruining productive enterprises, inevitably triggering the collapse of consumer goods supplies and the essential intermediate goods for businesses to operate.

It was a criminal and irreversible assault on fixed capital: basic industries, electrical infrastructure, water supply systems, the refining network, and highly productive agricultural land and livestock. Confiscated properties were vandalized, thoroughly cannibalized, or abandoned to physical decay without the slightest reinvestment for their replacement.

Today, the country's physical production structure is dismantled. The apparent "wealth" or stability observed in certain buildings or residential assets is not wealth created by the regime; it is the inertial inheritance of the decades prior to Chavismo—a physical remnant that refuses to disappear but languishes day by day. The collapsed buildings, with few exceptions, were shoddy structures rushed to completion under the governments of Chávez and Maduro for low-income families, who did not know they had acquired their cinderblock sarcophagi.

The direct consequence for its citizens is a population plunged into a landscape of structural misery that they cannot escape on their own. The average Venezuelan finds themselves trapped in a perfect snare: they lack the physical infrastructure to produce, they lack a stable currency, and they are condemned to chronic underemployment. From the informal laborer to the highly educated professional, virtually the entire domestic workforce has been systematically downgraded—forced into precarious, severely underpaid positions that command only a fraction of their true productive worth. A former nation with a brilliant future has been reduced to a society where nearly 90% of the population is structurally underemployed, stripped of the ability to earn a dignified living matching their skills.

Without extensive investment in fixed capital and access to international financing, it is technically impossible for civil society or the remaining private sector to spearhead an economic recovery on their own. The country’s economic engine is not merely idling; it has been structurally gutted.

*Braudel, Fernand. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Century. Vol. 2, The Wheels of Commerce, pp 242-243. London: Phoenix Press, 2002.

#Economics #Venezuela #Constitución1999 #EconomicHistory #OdiousDebt #FixedCapital #Hyperinflation #HumanitarianCrisis

[Alerta Mundial @AlertaMundoNews]

🇻🇪 La ONU afirma que la cifra de muertos por los terremotos en Venezuela es superior a la registrada por el Gobierno local y confirma la adquisición, ya acordada, de 10.000 bolsas para cadáveres ante la magnitud del desastre.

[Li Mengbai @lvjin1993]

这位骑摩托车高手，山路十八弯，弯弯有路走！这送一趟得多少钱呀？

[Context Pin It (P) @pinitreply]

She had no idea she was talking to the CEO 😱

[Vikalpa @Pegura5473]

@la_patilla ⛔ ʜᴀᴄɪᴇɴᴅᴏ ʟᴇɢᴏ ᴅᴇ ʟᴀᴅʀɪʟʟᴏs. ᴍɪʟɪᴛᴀʀᴇs ᴠᴇɴᴇᴢᴏʟᴀɴᴏs ʜɪᴊᴏs ᴅᴇ ᴘᴜᴛᴀ, ɴᴏ ᴠᴀʟᴇɴ ɴɪ ʟᴀ sᴜᴇʟᴀ ᴅᴇ ʟᴀs ʙᴏᴛᴀs ᴅᴇ s. ʙᴏʟɪ́ᴠᴀʀ 🤮

[Eduardo Menoni @eduardomenoni]

🇻🇪 Diosdado Cabello se niega a ayudar a un venezolano atrapado en los escombros mientras un rescatista estadounidense le dice “Hay alguien aquí mismo pidiendo ayuda”. Estos estadounidenses están viendo en vivo como Diosdado provoca un GENOCIDIO. ¡Espero que se lo lleven pronto!.

[Visegrád 24 @visegrad24]

🇻🇪 The well-known rescuer Hector Mendez (“El Chino” / “Topo Mayor”) told how the Venezuelan regime is trying to stage a propaganda show against the backdrop of the earthquake.

During the interview, a journalist from the local TV channel approached him and started telling him exactly what he should say on camera and that he must thank the president.

Mendez replied: “Listen, darling… I’m 80 years old. You’re not going to tell me what to say. You’re not my boss. I’m not a politician — I’m a rescuer.”

He also emphasized that Delcy Rodríguez has still not appeared in the area where his team is carrying out rescue operations.

[Basil the Great @BasilTheGreat]

There is an epidemic of violence against white girls by migrant gangs

This was in Finland

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

LA DEVASTACIÓN DE VENEZUELA

En su monumental obra “Las Ruedas del Comercio”,* el historiador económico Fernand Braudel describió la importancia del Capital Fijo y del Capital Circulante para la actividad económica de un país. Para ello se apoyó en la brillante metáfora con que el economista Heinrich Von Storch (1820) aleccionó a los Grandes Duques de Rusia, Nicolás (futuro Zar) y su hermano Miguel, para explicar la importancia del capital circulante. Von Storch asumió una nación extremadamente rica, con una enorme cantidad de capital en tierras productivas, construcción de viviendas, puentes, canales, levantamiento de fábricas y talleres, y producción de máquinas y herramientas, que al ser invadida por bárbaros le arrebataron, hurtaron, todo el capital circulante: todas las raciones y bienes manufacturados de utilidad de consumo, pero dejan intactos todos los bienes físicos de producción. Ello causaría la interrupción de toda actividad laboral y una hambruna, pues los trabajadores necesitarían alimentos diarios para subsistir y trabajar, animales para labrar la tierra, trigos, metales, materias primas para la industria y la artesanía. El país queda de rodillas y en absoluta hambruna sin el flujo vital de su capital circulante y estaría condenado a una enorme pobreza y muertes, características de todas las guerras antiguas.

Braudel, con agudeza invierte la trama al sugerir que los bárbaros vandalizan esa nación, pero en lugar de arrebatar el capital circulante, destruyen todo el capital fijo —maquinarias y equipos, instrumentos de trabajo, infraestructura (edificios, casas, fábricas, escuelas, hospitales, puentes, carreteras), todo aquello que sirva para producir bienes y servicios de consumo—. La parálisis y la miseria resultantes que alterarían el modo de vida del país en esta situación sería equivalente al primer caso. Culmina Braudel señalando que cada uno es importante para el otro. Lo describió como un “motor de dos velocidades”. El capital circulante que se consume y reproduce rápidamente en cada ciclo, alimenta al capital fijo, el cual lentamente —evitando su desgaste en el tiempo (su depreciación)— requiere constantemente de inversiones solo para mantener lo que tiene, o estará condenado a la parálisis.

Es evidente que ni Von Storch ni Braudel imaginaron, en sus peores pesadillas, a Hugo Chávez, a Nicolás Maduro y a la facción criminal que los acompaña. Ellos no solo destruyeron simultáneamente el capital fijo y el circulante de Venezuela, sino que sepultaron al país bajo una deuda pública —improductiva, pues fue apropiada por elementos de ese mismo Estado— que el propio régimen sobreviviente cifra en 240 mil millones de dólares —factura que ellos mismos habrán de pagar—. A esto se sumó un señoreaje agresivo para financiar el déficit —que ellos en su corrupción causaron�� y la imposición del impuesto inflacionario más alto del mundo, con lo cual pulverizaron la moneda y destruyeron su función como reserva de valor y, con ello, la capacidad de consumo nacional.

A este desierto productivo se sumó hoy, para colmo de males, el doble terremoto del 24 de junio de 2026, evento y fecha que jamás deben ser olvidados por la catástrofe humanitaria que exacerba el devastador diagnóstico para Venezuela. El chavismo no ejecutó una simple mala gestión; lo que ocurrió fue un proceso de destrucción simultánea de las dos velocidades del motor económico. A través de una política sistemática de expropiaciones, confiscaciones y controles asfixiantes, el régimen desvalijó primero el flujo diario de la economía. Abusaron el capital circulante mientras arruinaron a las empresas productivas, provocando la destrucción del capital fijo y el colapso del abastecimiento no solo de bienes de consumo final, sino de los bienes intermedios indispensables para que las empresas operaran.

Fue un daño criminal e irreversible contra el capital fijo. Las industrias básicas, la infraestructura eléctrica, aguas, el sistema de refinación y las fábricas confiscadas fueron arruinadas o abandonadas al desgaste físico sin la menor tasa de inversión para su reposición. Hoy, la estructura física de producción del país está desmantelada. La aparente "riqueza" o estabilidad que se observa en ciertas edificaciones o activos residenciales no es riqueza creada por el régimen; es la herencia inercial de las décadas anteriores al chavismo, un remanente físico que se niega a desaparecer pero que languidece día a día. Los edificios derrumbados, salvo pocos, fueron obras construidas bajo los gobiernos de Chávez y de Maduro para la población de bajos recursos, que no sabían que habían adquirido sus sepulcros de cemento.

La consecuencia directa para los ciudadanos es una población sumida en un estado real de miseria de la cual no puede salir por sí sola. El venezolano común se encuentra atrapado en una trampa perfecta: no cuenta con la estructura física para producir, carece de un signo monetario sano y está condenado al desempleo o a empleos precarios y severamente subpagados. Sin inversión en capital fijo y sin financiamiento real, es técnicamente imposible que la sociedad civil o el sector privado remanente faciliten una recuperación económica por medios propios. El motor económico del país no está apagado; fue estructuralmente desmantelado.

*Braudel, Fernand. Civilization and Capitalism, 15th–18th Century. Vol. 2, The Wheels of Commerce, pp 242-243. London: Phoenix Press, 2002.

#Venezuela #LaDevastaciónDeVenezuela #HistoriaEconómica #Hiperinflación #CrisisHumanitaria

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

Así piensa Venezuela.
No más Delcy Rodríguez. No más Jorge Rodríguez. No más Diosdado Cabellos. Incluidos todos sus testaferros y cómplices -como los colectivos y políticos que les dieron aire- durante 27 años

[Saganism @Saganismm]

41 years ago, Carl Sagan gave a clear and elegant explanation of the science behind global warming.

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

https://t.co/FU5Zns8Tw2

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

https://t.co/kX0rYWrGwJ

[Stefan Balabanoff @SbTenax]

https://t.co/FU5Zns8Tw2

[Carlo Martin @Liberfach0]

🚫 🇪🇸 | PAÍS TERMINADO

En Torre Pacheco, España, un magrebí despedazó a martillazos a un africano negro, y lo dejó tendido en la vereda. Se desconoce los motivos, pero dejó en trauma a los vecinos de la zona.

¿Este es el enriquecimiento cultural que la izquierda les prometió?

[Massimo @Rainmaker1973]

A gyroscope is probably one of the most fascinating physics toys and one of the most useful applications of conservation of angular momentum in several branches of science and technology.

[Jaynit @jaynitx]

Marc Andreessen went on Chris Williamson's podcast and broke down exactly how Elon Musk runs multiple companies at once

No other CEO on Earth does this:

1. Every week, Musk shows up at each of his companies, identifies the single biggest problem that company is having that week, and fixes it. Then he does that for 52 weeks in a row. At the end of the year, each company has solved its 52 biggest problems. Meanwhile, most large companies are still having the planning meeting for the pre-planning meeting for the board presentation with the compliance review and the legal review attached.

2. This is not a new operating method. It is actually how the great industrialists of the late 1800s and early 1900s ran their companies. Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Watson, who built IBM. Total devotion from the leader to fully and deeply understand what the company does, be in the trenches, talk directly to the people doing the work, and be the lead problem solver in the organization. Andreessen says he is not aware of another current CEO who operates this way.

3. The framework Musk uses is the bottleneck. In any manufacturing chain, there is always one thing holding everything up. Sometimes it is raw materials at the start. Sometimes it is warehousing at the end. Sometimes it is in the middle. The job is to find it and remove it. Musk has universalized this concept across every company he runs. In any given week, there is one main bottleneck. He micromanages the solution to that one thing and delegates almost everything else.

4. Musk delegates almost everything. Andreessen is clear about this. He is not involved in most of what his companies are doing. He is involved in the one thing that is the biggest problem right now. Once that is fixed, he moves to the next biggest problem. Everything else by definition, is running better than the bottleneck, so it does not need him.

5. When Musk identifies the bottleneck, he goes directly to the engineer who actually understands it. not the VP of engineering, not the director, not the manager. The individual contributor who has the actual technical knowledge. He sits in the room with that person and fixes the problem alongside them. He does not ask for a report to be reviewed in three weeks. he shows up at the keyboard or on the manufacturing line and works through it overnight if necessary.

6. This is why technical people who work for Musk say it was the best experience of their lives. Andreessen's framing: if you are stuck on a problem you cannot solve, Elon Musk is going to show up in his Gulfstream, sit with you in front of the keyboard, and help you figure it out. For an engineer who genuinely cares about the work, that is an almost incomprehensible level of support from the CEO of the company.

7. Business school teaches the opposite of this: management as a generic skill applicable to any industry. Soup company or a rocket company, the management principles are the same. process, balance sheet, meeting schedules, compliance, executive motivation, interpersonal conflict resolution. Andreessen says those skills are useful in many contexts. They just give you nothing; you need to do what Musk does. And Musk pushes as far as he can away from all of that so he can spend all of his time doing the things only he can do.

[Capitán Bitcoin @CapitanBitcoin]

🚨Esta historia es de terror. Los medios lo han ocultado todo. Ocurrió ayer en Almería (España). Joven ilegal de 21 años entra en una autocaravana con una navaja. Se desnuda. Agrede sexualmente a una chica alemana de que estaba descansando dentro. La golpea brutalmente dejándole la cara desfigurada.

La encontraron gravemente herida y la trasladaron al Hospital Materno Infantil de Almería, activando el protocolo de agresiones sexuales.

La Policía localizó al sospechoso, escondido. Al verse acorralado, corrió hacia el mar y se adentró 100 metros pese al fuerte oleaje y viento.

Empezó a hundirse y a dar síntomas de ahogamiento.
Cinco agentes se lanzaron al agua revuelta para rescatarlo. Lo sacaron con dificultad (el agresor apenas colaboraba) y lo estabilizaron en la arena.

Los cinco policías necesitaron asistencia médica por lesiones durante el rescate.

Solo un periodico local lo ha registrado, porque en España está prohibido informar sobre cualquier cosa que rompa la narrativa pro inmigración masiva del gobierno socialista. Esta son las consecuencias. Que todo el mundo lo sepa.

[Hermann Tertsch @hermanntertsch]

Policías británicos dando puñetazos a niñas blancas.
Con lo tímidos y educados que son con los brutales hombres paquistaníes que patrullan ciudades británicas como polícía de la moral.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Wow