EDITOR and publisher Carlos Ball, writing for the "free market" web site Tech Central Station, poses the question: "Why is Bermuda Richer than Venezuela?", and in answering his rhetorical question, proceeds to heap praise upon the Government of Bermuda, and the "wild capitalism" of its economic system.

Mr. Ball is an adjunct scholar with the libertarian Cato Institute, whose mission statement emphasises its enthusiasm for "limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace".

According to Cato, Carlos Ball runs Agencia Interamericana de Prensa Economica or AIPE, a wire service in Florida that distributes "market-liberal op-eds to major newspapers in Latin America", and whose opinion pieces "have appeared throughout Latin America, as well as in US publications, including ".

This latest paean from the right may be received as distinctly unsolicited praise by our supposedly ideology-free Government, and it would be reasonable to suppose from his political and media connections that Mr. Ball would be surprised by any right-thinking government having truck with Cuba. He has some unusual notions about Bermuda, but he sees us as the perfect antithesis to the corrupt statist regimes of Latin America.

"Other things being equal, one would think that Venezuela, a democratic country with immense oil and mineral riches, populated by descendants of the liberators of Latin America, would out-prosper Bermuda, an island one-third the size of the District of Columbia, two-thirds populated by the descendants of black slaves with one paved airport, no university, and no natural resource more valuable than its beaches.

"But other things are not equal," he continues," and, as a result, the per capita income of Bermudians is $36,845 one of the highest in the world, and that of Venezuelans $3,326. There is no unemployment in Bermuda, whereas over half of the Venezuelan population is either unemployed or working in the underground economy."

Mr. Ball is quick to discern corruption and the dead hand of the state as the reasons why Venezuela is in dire economic straits.

"Never underestimate the immense capacity of Latin American politicians to assume ownership of major industries, spew out legislation limiting the freedom of the people, redistributing their property, and denying them equal treatment under the law, while bombarding the population with socialist demagoguery. Venezuela's government, directly and through the businesses it owns, is the top employer, and the people are dictated to by a ponderous and corrupt bureaucracy."

MR. Ball seems unaware that Bermuda's Government is the island's largest employer, and he has clearly not heard of the Bermuda Housing Corporation, Bermuda Land Development Company, Wedco, et al.

"In Bermuda, the only governmental enterprise is the postal service. There is no central bank. Bermudian dollars and US dollars are interchangeable. For that reason, we have never heard of capital flight (from) Bermuda and economic analysts place it at about the same risk range of Singapore, where democracy is still in its infancy, but where people enjoy total economic freedom, meaning that the market functions freely and advances at a high speed in the global economy."

Mr. Ball bemoans the startling fall of the Venezuelan currency, the bolivar, which was pegged to the value of one gram of gold from 1879 to 1961, but has since, with the advent of 'democratic' governments and exchange controls, suffered a devaluation of "60,445 per cent in 43 years".

"The average inflation in Venezuela is 20 per cent vs two percent in Bermuda. A low inflation rate is one of the best measures of government respect for property rights.

"The rule of law that reigns in Bermuda fosters individual freedom." he drools. " A non-interventionist regime, with minimum regulations, and a legislative assembly that doesn't forge and promulgate new laws all the time offers great incentives for savings, for investments and to create new job opportunities."

Mr. Ball reports, in a tone of considerable approbation, that "a referendum on Independence was soundly defeated in Bermuda in 1965 and the 138 coral islands and islets remain an overseas territory of the United Kingdom, with internal self-government".

No self-respecting voice of the Hispanic right can avoid taking a stab at Castro, and Mr. Ball does not shirk his duty.

"Venezuela, meanwhile, is one of the oldest 'democracies' in Latin America," he sneers, "(but) President Ch?vez is using every trick he has learned from his mentor Fidel Castro to avoid a recall referendum on his presidency.

"In the real world, the so-called 'wild capitalism' of Bermuda, with its high respect for property rights, is a lot less savage than the corrupt 'Bolivarian' revolution of President Hugo Ch?vez, which now embraces every evil Simon Bolivar dedicated his life to fight."

"Everyone who reads newspapers and watches the news on television has heard the names of Chavez, 'Lula' (Ignacio da Silva), and N?stor Kirchner, the socialist presidents of Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina. I doubt if you recognise the name of Alex Scott, the head of government of Bermuda, or of Pascal Couchepin, the president of Switzerland."

"As far as governments are concerned," Mr. Ball concludes, "small is very beautiful."