[panitaxx]

That sounds great. Let's regulate it. I am from Venezuela and can tell you the wonders regulation has done for my country's economy.

[dang]

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14330613 and marked it off-topic.

[gizzlon]

I'm from Norway and the economy is quite regulated. We're still/therefore (take your pick) very successful [1].

Macro economy is complicated. It seems obvious to me the it's not as simple as "just let everyone run free". On the other hand regulation has it's disadvantages as well. Complicated.

[1] as in #3 in the world: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nomi...

[krrrh]

Measuring "regulation" isn't straightforward, but based on the Heritage Foundation's criteria, Norway has a relatively light load. It's basically on par with the US.[1] Its a very free economy by international standards. Venezuela is near the bottom of the list, just above North Korea.

Economic regulation and the extent of the social safety net can be quite independent of each other.

[1] http://www.heritage.org/index/ranking

[panitaxx]

It is complicated. Sweden also seems very regulated (as most of the EU).

[totalZero]

I'd say corruption is a bigger culprit than regulation in Venezuela.