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Venezuela Dispatches Army To Enforce Appliance "Fair Price" Ceiling After Looting Ensues
Over the weekend, in "Venezuela Government "Occupies" Electronics Retail Chain, Enforces "Fair" Prices", we reported that unpopular president Nicolas Maduro ordered the "occupation" of a chain of electronic goods stores in a crackdown on what the socialist government views as price-gouging hobbling the country's economy. Various managers of the five-store, 500-employee Daka chain - the local equivalent of Best Buy - have been arrested, and the company would be forced to sell products at "fair prices." Since then things have escalated rapidly. Because as we queried, and many wondered, the first question that arose is how would Maduro i) assure that prices were indeed kept at their "fair values" and ii) how would the cool, calm and orderly social order be preserved when suddenly everyone scrambles to buy all those flatscreens (which may have certain operational problems once the socialist paradise is hit with daily electric brown and blackouts very soon) they have been dreaming of for years. Now we know: with the help of the army.
NBC reports that in his "fight" against the economic "war" that he says the political opposition, in collusion with the United States, is waging against Venezuela, President Nicolas Maduro ordered the military occupation of a chain of electronics stores over the weekend, forcing the company to charge "fair" prices. This is happening hours after Maduro also promised that he will lower prices of mobile phones: will battalion regimens be tasked with making sure iPhone 5S are sold at a net profit for Apple?
But back to serious matters such as how brilliant socialist decrees result in immediate looting:
Pictures shared on social media as well as local newspaper reports said that one store in the country's central city of Valencia faced looting. Some critics suggested that the entire operation was a form of looting organized by the government, just in time for municipal elections in December.
Así quedó #Daka después del #saqueo q vergüenza de gobierno cómplice de los malandros y ladrones pic.twitter.com/70jWSoFcSU
— Adrian Otero (@Adrian_Otero) November 9, 2013
"This is for the good of the nation," Maduro said on state television. "Leave nothing on the shelves, nothing in the warehouses … Let nothing remain in stock!"
Pay attention: this is coming to every "developed" banana republic near you.
Head of the High Commission for the People's Defence of the Economy Hebert Garcia Plaza attempted to explain the government's decision to take over Daka on state television on Friday, accusing the chain of unfair markups.
From a Daka store in Caracas, the government minister tweeted a picture of a washer/dryer that "cost 39,000 VEF on November 1 and today costs 59,000 VEF, a nearly 100 percent rise in a week."
Esta lavadora/secadora el 1nov2013 costaba Bs. 39mil. Hoy cuesta Bs. 59mil. Un incremento de casi 100% en una semana pic.twitter.com/VsgkD6b2sG
— Hebert García Plaza (@HGarciaPlaza) November 8, 2013
And while observed from the outside what is going on in Venezuela is a hoot, it hardly is to those stuck in the socialist paradise:
Local economist Jose Guerra, a former Central Bank official, was critical of not just the events at Daka but the bigger picture. "Food today, hunger tomorrow," he wrote on Twitter.
Venezuela's opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, has long blamed the government for the state of the country's economy. On Saturday, he tweeted: "Everything Maduro does leads to further destruction of the economy."
"Today it's Daka. Tomorrow it'll be the banks where you save your money," tweeted Maria G. Colmenares, a professor at a local university.
Oscar Diaz resorted to sarcasm to make his point: "Daka had flour, sugar, milk and other basics. The shortage is over! Ah sorry, they sell [appliances]! Oops."
At this point there is little left to comment on either Venezuela, or the rest of the world that has adopted the same "fairness doctrine" principle. Best to just sit back and consume the trans-fat free popcorn.
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this will heppen in the US soon
MARY JO white can help ? http://hedge.ly/19hEvMq
This is how it looks when central governments set out to fight hyperinflation.
Buys them some time. But only a moment. Then the roof falls in. Hyper-deflation then eats them alive and their world ends.
They should let bankers control their economy and government. It appears to work just great in the good ol' U.S. of A. He who inhabits glass houses shall not throw stones or some bible bullshit like that....
I have no issue with government price controls....
.......on gold and silver.
Provides more ounces for each FRN.
"Crazy Maduro, his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!"
Where my Obama-TV? Venezuela got Chazez-TVs. So where the fucks my Obama-TV?
Never forget that Jimmy Carter monitored and found the elections putting Chavez in power to be fair and untainted with fraud. Sick.
I knew a few Venezuelan middle class people who were trying to get out right after Chavez was "elected." Sickening. The left always rigs elections like they do in the USA.
I believe you're looking for Luke 6:42:
How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Whether or not you believe the potentially mythological aspects of the bible... It did cover hypocracy.
Anyhow, Venezula would not have this problem if the Bolivar or whatever fiat they're using these days was the global reserve currency. Resource paradox sucks (unless you're Norweigan).
Please Explain how Hyper deflation ate the Soviet Union alive.
Should make for some interesting classes in the reeducation camps.
You are not thinking far enough ahead. Hyperinflation can only exist while there is a functional central government willing to print and maintain the fantasy of a monetary system. When everything falls apart badly enough, when nobody has a job or income, then the rules completely change. Hyperdeflation is the signal that there is no faith in the future of the existing system. When faith evaporates people hoard hard resources (even irrationally) and for most of the output of the economic system there are no buyers at any price, so the price drops to zero for the crap nobody needs anymore, which in the end is almost everything. Business cannot sell, cannot hire, and cannot buy raw materials, so the normal economic engines then flame out. This is the precursor to the rise of non-economic systems like barter between producers. Barter and scrip and the rest of the "alternative economies" of course dwell at the bottom of the deflationary well, right where we started 800 years ago.
If this causes you to worry about the value in fiat of your PM holdings; indeed.
"and for most of the output of the economic system there are no buyers at any price, so the price drops to zero for the crap nobody needs anymore, which in the end is almost everything"
If you mention inflation or deflation you have to define what the denominator is. It's no use mixing and matching across assets and currencies.
I'm being kind to you, I am just assuming you forgot to mention what things are deflating in terms of what currencies.
A more succinct appraisal of your quoted paragraph is written below.
WTF are you smoking dude?
I'm smoking "no buyers at any price" but that's not a blend most people can handle.
Logical fallacy + complete lack of evidence, does not a convincing argument make.
I tell you what cougar I will give you one Benny buck for everything you own. This will help prove once and for all your theory that there can exist in the world of fiat currency a situation where there are " no buyers at any price".
I won't even ask for a full inventory of all your stuff, promise!
Cougar you have it backwards - first deflation then hyper-inflation and then GAME OVER.
mayabe deflation in $ but in banana republic money it's hyperinflation.
MARY JO can help kill boners
It already happens here:
http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aib-agricultural-information-bullet...
And just as there, "fair price" it will be taken to mean "free shit"!
What is fair? We'll tell you what's fair!!!
"if you like your price, you can keep it!"
Wake up and smell the Mugabe.
you had me at brown outs
political opposition in collusion with the u.s.??? why, president O is like Maduro's ideological soul mate!!!! he feels for you Maduro!!! he is with you!!! he understands fair pricing, like for example health insurance!!! nooo Maduro, O is on your side!!!
ahp, not too quick there
they may both be marxists at heart, but there are marxists who are out there doing their own thing, and then there are the marxists who are on the payroll.
trotsky got an axe to the head for his trouble.
CORRALITO baby
Viva los precios muis altos! Que Viva!
What the hell is wrong with the venezuelan people voting for maduro which means you will have not toilet paper and have to use your hands ...the country is fucked
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-27/venezuela-is-running-out-of-toi...
There was a bit of electorial hanky panky involved in his win. But the winner when they control the military get to squash the legal challenges and that is exactly what happened.
-1 for off-topic. We're not talking about prior US presidential elections here. oh wait
This particular game goes beyond ideology. It is a more basic human problem concerning power and the wielding of it. And it really wasn't off topic my point was not as many people voted for Maduro as claimed and when you can't win an election you fix it. It was easy for him to do since the support structure was already in place, he wasn't trying to dismantle it but keep it in place.
I was being facetious...I up arrowed you! I take a dim view on our own electoral college, in fact I take a dim view naturally on anything I don't see with my own eyes.
It's different here in the USSA - You just need to control the so called supreme court.
It gets serious once this comes to your local supermarket in Caracas. This is the prelims to full retard socialism and killing fields.
Or to your local supermarket in inner city US. Oops! It already came
Explain?
Not a supermarket but ... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/07/sports-authority-flash-mo_n_423...
Very often when there are protests against police shootings, they are accompanied by store looting. Systematic shop-lifting has become a gang enterprise in many cities, especially Chicago. Strolling through inner city neighborhoods, you will note that the large supermarket chains are absent and small grocery stores have heavy protection.
Once confidence is lost by business' to protect their assets, all commerce will stop in Venezuela and their economy will come to a screeching halt. That's when the SHTF.
Of course. This is the real problem. No business is going to put with this shit because they see the writing on the wall. That governemtn is like a parasite - the more they take, the more they want. It's a form of suicidal intertia. Any company doing business in that hellhole is considering their options since lawlessness is now the norm.
Tyler: Who gave you the idea that Maduro is an "unpopular" president? Oh, I know - the main stream media.
washer/dryer that "cost 39,000 VEF on November 1 and today costs 59,000 VEF, a nearly 100 percent rise in a week."
No hyper inflation here in this banana republic! Nicolas Maduro caused a 100% drop in the value of there currency and he says they are raising prices. Wow does that ever sound familiar!
59,000/39,000 = 1.5128 = +51.28%
Off by only 49% from the claimed 'nearly 100 percent.'
One perceives that Venezuela's escuelas have world-class standards of math education ... BWA HA HA HA!
Socialism makes you fucking retarded ...
If you are an accountant, we would like to employ you.
Signed, Kathleen Sebelius
Billie Jean is not my lover. She's just a girl...
This has been happening for centuries.
Step 1 - Debase the currency.
Step 2 - Blame the merchants for price increases.
Step 3 - Impose price controls.
The Roman emperor Diocletian did the same thing in 291.
The result is that all commerce will move to the black market.
Wouldn't the commerce be moving to the Zambo Market?
Step 4 Impose the death penalty for disobeying the price controls
Step 5. Starvation destitution misery, collapsing living standards.
Step 6. Human flight
Step 7. Societal collapse, (or). invasion from outside. I.e. " barbarians at the gates". Or just a relapse into agrarian living (or) some combination of the above.
Unfortunately one doesnt get to choose.
Personally, when this comes knocking on our door, I would move step 6 to around step 3.5... In other words, get the hell out of Dodge before the SHTF.
And in a completely unrelated story, a number of container ships heading to Venezuela collided as they were executing tight u-turns.
That is actually a good point - what is the month to month change for the past year of goods being shipped to Venezuela? I want to see an article about this.
Venezuela has oil. I doubt they are not receiving something valuable in return. Maybe Obamaphonez?
How much oil is being produced? I recall production fell a lot after nationalization.
The Chinese will help. They'll trade flat screens for oil. They may need to help extract the oil as well.
Watch for conflicts to flare up on the Venezuelan / Colombian border as commodities dwindle in Venezuela...
That's the advantage of having multiple currencies. Too bad Greece and KaLiFoRnIa don't have their own too.
They already do: the complementary triad of gold, silver and Bitcoins. Not enough people use them yet.
What they are doing is no different than what the beloved US Federal reserve is doing, the only difference is that they are trying to push their prices down while the Fed is trying to push our prices up.
100% mas?
50%.... Jesus we are left only with amateurs. The good old times of Saddam, Moshe Dayan, Rote Armee Frakzion,
Are you trying to down play 59% in ONE WEEK? What is it in a month?
LOL
Army probably looted the stores and will promptly sell the items on the black market for 120,000 VEF. Easy money.
They will keep this up until the economy is completely destroyed, then once they have nothing the solution will be bullets.
pew pew pew
Not so funny if you have spent time there or know people from Venezuela.
Sad to watch a once proud and productive country sink into the shit, much like the US.
Heya Doc. The military who took over the stores are going to have very clean laundry. Its a Rainbrow Brright happy ending!
Are you saying they are fans of Tide and other black market currencies?
Not everyone who Goes Galt has a choice in the matter.
And who exactly is going to restock their stores when Roman Candle economics is reaching its end-game?
Next week it will be the food stores, and then the fun goes to another level.
"If you like your appliances, you can keep your appliances...ooops".
Period!
Khan!!!
Chief?
Come on down to the Crazy Carlos currency going out of business sale! Hurry! Act Now! It's CRAAZZY!!!!!!
The prices are INSANE!!!!!!!!!!
Is that Crazy Carlos Danger?
Interesting Story. Just took a shit this morning and decided to auction my turds on ebay to see the "fair price" was. Found out bidders were only offering negative prices (i.e. I must pay them) for my poop. So, decided to flush them down the toilet.
Lesson: If you try to control the price of shit, you'll just end up flushing it down the toilet.
If you read this, that's 30 seconds of your life you've just wasted, but then I wasted 60 seconds writing it so you're ahead so far.
I got you beat...in spades. I signed up for an experimental protocol with the university of Michigan that is looking for colon cancer markers in poop. I had to take a dump in a box and mail my poop to them. Got a $35.00 debit card which I have not used yet but soon will.
I actually did get $125 once for answering a survey.
Was surprized when that little check actually came. Best $750/hr. I ever made.
Oil collapse coming
Sending in troops to stop looters?!
All I can think of is the bumper sticker:
Don't steal, the Government doesn't like competition!
This is what they call a flash hider mob.....the military..and you can bet they got the good stuff...I am sure their trucks were at the warehouses loading up...its sad to watch..but again you get what you vote for....as long as its a fair vote...in this case it was not...
Perhaps the owners of this chain had been caught expressing their opinions.
Is the Venezuelan Army going to occupy South Korea to ensure a supply of below-cost big-screens?
The U.S. police and National Guard enforced "fair" racial practices in the 1960's when they began telling whites with whom they were to associate. This was called "civil rights" and it was the first in a long line of usurpations and social distortions in the Home of the Free and the Brave.
Those with totalitarian tendencies are very busy little rodents.
A proletarian revolution where the working class overthrows the bourgeoisie, in order to take over every Best Buy store.
Just like Marx predicted.
Shortages, stockpiling of food, strange doubling of prices, electricity outtages and similar events have nothing to do with Uribe, CIA and "american backdoor" in front of municipal elections in Venecuela on December the 8th, riiight ?
Ehm, how about an STRATFOR update on 4th fleet ?
Fucking commies :-P
.
The shit is getting really bad there, I have two brother-in-laws in Caracas, One is absolutely drying up...no more business living on savings and getting ready to head to Ecuador. The other one use to sell and trade on the black market but has been robbed and mugged so many times.. lucky to be alive and wanting to flee to Ecuador as well.
Ecuador women = black clam - yummy....
Huh? I met a beautiful blonde on a ski lift last winter. Didn't even really have an accent, but after talking (and we were stuck for a few minutes) she revealed she was from equador.
I wanted her to take me with her, but alas, it was not meant to be.
Venezuela: Against the economic war - workers' control and expropriation of the oligarchy;
http://www.marxist.com/venezuela-against-economic-war-nov-2013.htm
I hate it when insurance companies charge unfair prices. Oopps, wrong thread.
Spent a few minutes reading the Venny newspapers. Interesting quote from the opposition guy who lost to Maduro.
Asimismo, denunció que el Ejecutivo Nacional a través del Banco Central de Venezuela (BCV), están negociando más de un millón de onzas de oro con una empresa con sede en Londres, Inglaterra.
translates to: I denounce the Government which is using the central bank negotiating a sale of more than 1,000,000 ounces of gold with a company headqurtered in London.
So maybe that is why Chavez wanted the gold? Sell it quietly.
Also if anyone wants to see the Venny style for Obamaphone woman (bitching about wanting free electornics) click on the video on this link :
http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/fiscalizaciones/131111/consumidores-...
She aint no Ms Venezuela!
She says they have a right to buy things at fair prices. This is what happens when people are taught that they have the right to the fruits of someone else's labor. Ignorance proudly on display.
Just wait until they have nothing. Then what?
army making sure that government propaganda delivery devices would be distributed evenly between citizenry. imagine the effort to herd all these people to colosseum.
Who knew Organizing for America had a branch in Venezuela?
"Crazy Maduro, his prices are IN-SA-A-A-A-A-ANE!" He needs to find Eddie Antar if he want to actually turn this into a money-maker.
Was that DAKA located in Chicago?
So the lesson for the USA is more deregulation, right??? "Socialist" Obama let the bankers walk, with not one of them punished for gross plundering. America is being run into the ground by corporations and their lobbyists, and the mob on ZH is still howling about too much government.