February 17, 2007
Faced with an accelerating inflation rate and shortages of basic foods like beef, chicken and milk, President Hugo Chávez has threatened to jail grocery store owners and nationalize their businesses if they violate the country’s expanding price controls.Food producers and economists say the measures announced late Thursday night, which include removing three zeroes from the denomination of Venezuela’s currency, are likely to backfire and generate even more acute shortages and higher prices for consumers. Inflation climbed to an annual rate of 18.4 percent a year in January, the highest in Latin America and far above the official target of 10 to 12 percent.
Mr. Chávez, whose leftist populism remains highly popular among Venezuela’s poor and working classes, seemed unfazed by criticism of his policies. Appearing live on national television, he called for the creation of “committees of social control,” essentially groups of his political supporters whose purpose would be to report on farmers, ranchers, supermarket owners and street vendors who circumvent the state’s effort to control food prices.
In other words, Chavez wants to ensure that the productive segments of society are not rewarded for their productivity, but are instead punished for trying to get a fair return on their efforts. Indeed, Chavez has already taken initiatives to prevent "hoarding" (refusing to sell product at absurdly low prices set by the government), so this is simply one more step towards economic chaos.
One thing that I find telling in here is that the Venezuelan government has set a planned rate of inflation at 10-12% -- a rate that would be unacceptably high in this country and count the administration in place as a failure. Frighteninly, the Chavez government cannot even meet that unreasonably high target, and instead finds itself with a 18.5% rate of inflation.
The place is going to implode -- hopefully ending this experiment in socialism before it does too much damage tot he once-thriving nation.
Posted by: Greg at
09:19 AM
| Comments (60)
| Add Comment
Post contains 371 words, total size 2 kb.
Posted by: Nicholas at Thu May 15 02:44:16 2008 (BtzfG)
Posted by: Van at Thu May 15 07:44:24 2008 (s0BgC)
Posted by: fisting porno at Fri Oct 3 19:49:11 2008 (Qx1oZ)
Posted by: female underarm fetish at Fri Oct 3 20:21:46 2008 (LTIPz)
Posted by: eclipse car amp model 36201 at Fri Oct 3 23:00:06 2008 (usQCQ)
Posted by: ewan mcgregor naked pictures at Sat Oct 4 02:59:31 2008 (yrHcV)
Posted by: fuko model at Sat Oct 4 03:02:52 2008 (EqrG2)
Posted by: gonzo muppet jewelry at Sat Oct 4 04:53:20 2008 (0mqiz)
Posted by: filipino superstitions hands itching at Sat Oct 4 07:31:30 2008 (0BGbR)
Posted by: how to milk your prostate at Sat Oct 4 08:06:13 2008 (DFtEp)
Posted by: savage arms model 46 at Sat Oct 4 18:19:20 2008 (6J6jt)
Posted by: nude telugu actresses at Sat Oct 4 22:58:53 2008 (BgAa2)
Posted by: teen panties non nude at Sun Oct 5 22:37:12 2008 (jlU3V)
Posted by: stockings guys nylon at Mon Oct 6 00:04:19 2008 (qR7SA)
Posted by: danielle lloyd topless galleries at Mon Oct 6 23:12:09 2008 (oCFe0)
Posted by: carole laure angel at Wed Oct 8 06:03:45 2008 (v8Wvk)
Posted by: jeff cameron kern county coroner at Thu Oct 9 10:56:42 2008 (BF+sL)
Posted by: how to webcast for musicians at Thu Oct 9 18:44:45 2008 (IWBbO)
Posted by: george lucas san francisco symphony at Fri Oct 10 06:46:32 2008 (SolF3)
Posted by: georg cantor at Sun Oct 19 01:43:24 2008 (f8igL)
Posted by: kathy ireland swimsuit pictures at Sun Oct 19 05:24:43 2008 (Zd5/v)
Posted by: all night porn at Sun Oct 19 14:52:18 2008 (PHvib)
Posted by: kelly lin gallery at Mon Oct 20 00:32:09 2008 (zvxuk)
Posted by: Olgunka-zk at Mon Nov 10 04:14:32 2008 (48Puz)
Posted by: hardxnc swjm at Sat Dec 13 10:17:04 2008 (GFh8Q)
Posted by: sex at Sun Dec 28 22:50:54 2008 (r8oC2)
Posted by: sex at Mon Dec 29 03:34:18 2008 (BXvL7)
Posted by: Frt-1 at Thu Jan 8 11:35:23 2009 (78hVQ)
Posted by: payroll accounting at Thu Jan 15 08:55:35 2009 (EijPU)
Posted by: Larcik-oa at Thu Jan 15 13:36:09 2009 (+rLp9)
Posted by: neil hamilton ibm at Fri Jan 16 00:02:17 2009 (+Zl2j)
Posted by: physical map of indonesia at Fri Jan 16 19:46:35 2009 (PPWxn)
Posted by: poker strategy at Sun Jan 18 17:24:53 2009 (HRYsO)
Posted by: preformance motor sports denver colorado at Mon Jan 19 18:30:35 2009 (ZgbUU)
Posted by: ellaelax-kb at Thu Jan 22 04:19:26 2009 (ulH6H)
Posted by: free casino game site at Thu Jan 22 09:14:47 2009 (4gwep)
Posted by: foam fabrication at Tue Jan 27 06:09:07 2009 (T1Jsu)
Posted by: Larcik-in at Wed Jan 28 01:36:19 2009 (USolz)
Posted by: accidental exposure at Wed Feb 4 13:53:05 2009 (0Z9Ac)
Posted by: hard adulttube at Thu Feb 5 18:47:52 2009 (nd9/u)
Posted by: best online poker site at Sat Feb 7 11:08:39 2009 (lYvxb)
Posted by: embassy suites parsippany at Mon Feb 9 00:27:58 2009 (oXviu)
Posted by: sherborn at Fri Feb 13 01:00:04 2009 (BRV6I)
Posted by: george washington carver at Fri Feb 13 01:41:18 2009 (bGMIF)
Posted by: activity village at Fri Feb 13 12:06:39 2009 (gEReu)
Posted by: runway moms at Fri Feb 13 16:48:15 2009 (/U7Tt)
Posted by: leannella at Sun Feb 15 17:50:17 2009 (fe1W3)
Posted by: side effects prescription drug actos at Mon Feb 16 16:35:39 2009 (xeWxf)
Posted by: aciphex versus prilosec at Mon Feb 16 20:44:39 2009 (nlEoS)
Posted by: generic nifedipine at Tue Feb 17 00:52:17 2009 (BWWlJ)
Posted by: delphi allegra williams at Tue Feb 17 06:07:01 2009 (3kZhJ)
Posted by: actos versus avandia at Tue Feb 17 09:56:07 2009 (dyTzA)
Posted by: actonel prices at Tue Feb 17 13:36:50 2009 (rmym6)
Posted by: aciphex dosage at Tue Feb 17 17:50:18 2009 (u9PWw)
Posted by: aciphex hair loss at Tue Feb 17 18:40:22 2009 (9l1hW)
Posted by: spironolactone side effects be avoided at Wed Feb 18 16:57:36 2009 (QLjeA)
Posted by: goldfish slot download at Tue Feb 24 04:34:07 2009 (yS37M)
Posted by: John1230 at Sat May 16 11:32:52 2009 (TyCDk)
Posted by: ellaelax-eo at Tue May 19 06:16:11 2009 (olrOF)
Posted by: eagexarpisp at Sun Oct 25 03:40:02 2009 (vs2RP)
21 queries taking 0.0286 seconds, 89 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.