The Wonderful World of Socialism
By
robert108
on February 8, 2007 at 10:55 pm
Meat, Sugar Scarce in Venezuela Stores
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON
The Associated Press
This is what Hillary has in store for us:
Read the whole thing.
This is the legacy of socialism: shortages coupled with inflation, and the necessity of black markets. I was standard issue in the old Soviet Union, and now in Venezuela.
When will we realize that this is how socialism “works”?
By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON
The Associated Press
This is what Hillary has in store for us:
CARACAS, Venezuela—Meat cuts vanished from Venezuelan supermarkets this week, leaving only unsavory bits like chicken feet, while costly artificial sweeteners have increasingly replaced sugar, and many staples sell far above government-fixed prices.
President Hugo Chavez’s administration blames the food supply problems on unscrupulous speculators, but industry officials say government price controls that strangle profits are responsible. Authorities on Wednesday raided a warehouse in Caracas and seized seven tons of sugar hoarded by vendors unwilling to market the inventory at the official price.
A supermarket worker explains to a customer that their meat section is out of beef and chicken in Caracas, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007. President Hugo Chavez’s administration blames the scarcity of basic food products on unscrupulous speculators and government opponents, but industry officials blame government price controls which they say are strangling profits and causing distortions in the market. (AP Photo/Leslie Mazoch)
[...]
Shortages have sporadically appeared with items from milk to coffee since early 2003, when Chavez began regulating prices for 400 basic products as a way to counter inflation and protect the poor.
Yet inflation has soared to an accumulated 78 percent in the last four years in an economy awash in petrodollars, and food prices have increased particularly swiftly, creating a widening discrepancy between official prices and the true cost of getting goods to market in Venezuela.
[...]
Most items can still be found, but only by paying a hefty markup at grocery stores or on the black market. A glance at prices in several Caracas supermarkets this week showed milk, ground coffee, cheese and beans selling between 30 percent to 60 percent above regulated prices.
[...]
Read the whole thing.
This is the legacy of socialism: shortages coupled with inflation, and the necessity of black markets. I was standard issue in the old Soviet Union, and now in Venezuela.
When will we realize that this is how socialism “works”?
