The sheer magnitude of Venezuela's economic and political plight explains many of the difficulties it will face in recovery. To a great extent, the country's current crisis is the product of short-term political thinking in Caracas. In the past decade, oil windfalls led to highly populist policies, such as heavy fuel and electricity subsidies, as well as immense social spending on health care and housing. Price controls on food discouraged local production, increasing Venezuela's reliance on imports. As short-term electoral tactics, these policies worked. But once oil prices began to plummet in 2014, their flaws started to show. Between 2014 and 2015, export income at state-owned energy firm Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) decreased by 40 percent, leaving Venezuela with little choice but to slash imports to deal with the crisis. By nearly halving imports over the past year and a half, Caracas averted near-term financial disaster.