Marketplace correspondent Scott Tong was down in Venezuela a couple of months ago and brought back stories of what it’s like to live in a lopsided economy. An economy where oil is basically the only thing an entire country has going for it.

There’s now news out of Caracas — and the rest of the Venezuelan economy as well — about how much worse it’s gotten just since this spring. Looting, food riots, and shortages of virtually everything.

Girish Gupta is the Reuters correspondent in Caracas and spoke with Kai Ryssdal about the scene on the streets of Caracas.

Click the audio player above to hear the interview.