When socialism fails, your citizens are starving and all hope is lost, you look for… Marxist Jesus? Nicolas Maduro has hired what he calls the “Jesus Christ of Economics” Alfredo Serrano, a 40-year old Marxist economist from Spain as his new main economic advisor.

The previous economic advisor, Miguel Pérez Abad, was fired last week after he endorsed the plan, which called for direct subsidies to the poorest families, the elimination of foreign-exchange controls and a reduction of price controls according to the WSJ.

In a pivot guaranteed to bring a tear to Paul Krugman's eye, Serrano instead calls for even more state controls on manufacturing and food supply have largely shaped the president’s response to the country’s economic crisis. He travels with Maduro, writes his speeches and proposes ministers. According to senior Venezuelan officials, Serrano has blocked any attempts to coordinate efforts with the private sector.

Maduro previously described Serrano’s book, “The Economic Thought of Hugo Chavez” as “a very intelligent, very qualified man who’s building new concepts for a new economy of the 21st century...he’s a man of great courage.” No word on if “The Economic Thought of Hugo Chavez” is also the shortest book ever to be written.

Lastly, Serrano boasts impressive credentials. According to the WSJ, “in 2014, Mr. Serrano set up a think tank in Ecuador called the Latin American Strategic Center of Geopolitics, which lists him as a professor at eight universities across Spain and Latin America.When contacted by The Wall Street Journal, however, none of the institutions said that he had held a staff position, while five said he had taught courses at the universities only as a visiting professor. The other three said they had no record that he had ever taught any courses there.”

We leave it up to the readers if he does indeed look closer to Jesus Christ or Al Pacino’s rendition of Serpico.