« No Human Saviors | Main | Let's Have Less Hot Air About Global Warming» Don Boudreaux
February 08, 2007
Like Humidity in New Orleans....
Don Boudreaux
The world, it is trite to say, is unpredictable. Indeed so.
But there are exceptions to this rule. There is a sizable handful of predictions that I would bet my pension will prove accurate at least 99 out of 100 times. I predict, for example, that next year every football team that wins a big game will feature a gigantic lineman dumping the contents of a Gator Aid cooler over the happy head of the team's Head Coach.... I predict that every American politician seeking office will claim to know what "the American people" want and that he or she is most trustworthy champion of that collective desire.... I predict that Paul Krugman's next New York Times column will self-righteously accuse the Bush administration or "conservatives" of evil-intentions and evil-doings.... And I predict that every political strongman will blame "speculators" for many of the economic ills that befall the citizen-victims of their countries.
And lo! Lookie here!
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.
The above is from this report filed today by an AP reporter in Caracas.
(Hat tip to Cafe commentor Aschkan.)
Posted by Don Boudreaux in Economics, Politics, Reality Is Not Optional | Permalink
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Comments
I used to decry speculation ... before I understood that speculators exist to bring future value into the present and sell (or buy) it now rather than later.
Posted by: Russell Nelson | Feb 9, 2007 3:05:58 AM
We need a Chavez every generation or so. Without their examples creeping socialism makes inroads in otherwise rational economies.
Posted by: Robert Coté | Feb 9, 2007 12:34:32 PM
It seems to make inroads anyway. Examples aren't lacking. And it would be a vast improvement if examples occured only every generation instead of in an endless ongoing pageant of stupidity and misery...
Posted by: bbartlog | Feb 9, 2007 2:49:33 PM
Venezuela is #144 on this list: http://www.heritage.org/index/countries.cfm
Dr. Williams this week correlates this list with global poverty.
Posted by: True_Liberal | Feb 9, 2007 8:10:47 PM
What wimps the Chavez govt are! Public executions -- that's the remedy! 'Govt is the power to beat your enemies into submission' -- well go ahead: hit 'em!!
Posted by: Sudha Shenoy | Feb 10, 2007 7:47:45 AM
I noticed Zimbabawe made price increases illegal, in the face of 1000% inflation.
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