look at, say, student loans in the US, you can't beat Uncle Sam for interest rates. of course, once cronies get involved, you end up with the mess of the current US student loan system (thank you, My. Bush) in what is, in essence, a one-party unitary executive, this is just consolidation of more power in the hands of the executive. Chavez has already appointed a cousin to run the oil ministry, a brother to control overseas sales of petroleum, maybe he has a sister who is a banker?


banking needs strong oversight and regulation, that is the responsibility of government. but one thing governments have never done particularly well, especially in de facto single party systems is provide either retail or commercial banking services. you already have to be a party member to work in the oil industry (Rafael Ramirez, "PDVSA es roja, rojita de arriba a abajo.") that doesn't bode well for nationalised banks. I personally want my bankers to be good bankers, not good party members. but we shall see.