Posted on 02/13/2014 6:07:42 AM PST by Kartographer
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez criticized supermarket chains and said they could face consequences for what she claimed was price speculation on basic products, as the government tries to keep a lid on inflation.
Fernandez said consumers had denounced supermarkets for not complying with a recent voluntary agreement between the government and food suppliers to contain the price of goods including beef, sugar and yerba mate tea.
"We are going to take all the measures that we have to," said Fernandez in a speech at the presidential palace broadcast on television on Wednesday.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
"One of the terms that eventually makes its appearance in a failing economy is “profiteer”. The further the Venezuelan economy fell the more Hugo Chavez and his successors engaged in fighting “profiteers”. ....."Venezuela, Argentina, .... the list will continue on and on.
¿Cómo se dice “Whip Inflation Now”?
Back when the price of oil had spiked (mostly due to the dropping dollar index) and gas prices were escalating, I was living in CA. All the liberals were angry at (greedy) service stations for raising the price on their current inventory. I tried explaining to them until I was blue in the face that the businesses had to charge enough to be able to replace the inventory. I don’t think any of them ever understood it.
Liberal semantics:
Greed is keeping what you worked for rather than giving it to me.
How to move to Socialism 101:
1. The government creates a crisis through over-regulation
2. The government blames the private sector for the crisis
3. A large segment of the population — the lazy and unproductive who are looking for something for nothing — agree with the government
4. The government then takes over more.
Wait till we get to the point of Argentina last week, where they put up large “wanted for crimes against the people” posters of various company executives and even small business owners.
Is she singing “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina” while she does this???
So what this really is, is moving towards communism. They hate private enterprise, and will do all they can to seize them and their assets. All this bull$h!t is just an excuse.
Happening here too.
If only socialists could lasso the forces of the universe, the way their economic theory does on paper...
“Horders” and “wreckers” to be denounced shortly.
Recently in Canada the spokesman for the leftist NDP (New Democratic Party) declared that high gasoline prices were the result of “collusion” among the companies, and gave as evidence that gasoline prices rose during cold winter weather, and at the beginning of the summer vacation season.
A normal economist would probably know that this is a reflection of simple supply and demand at those times, and that the price fluctuations were a healthy sign of market sensitivity. But not for the NDP (with their rather typical left-wing paranoia), for whole this means that evil gas-stations are in “collusion.” So, why is this collusion at just those times? Why not always? They don’t even think this through; and what is worse, their opponents don’t even try to give a reasoned response. Both sides are probably reading their polling data.
However, a reasoned response, using calm logic, would probably eventually help educate the public, and show up the NDP, which is a highly dangerous group.
This is why it is not a bad idea to “invest” in nonperishable goods. If you have the room, store some food; it’s good advice proffered by sources as varied as the Mormon Church, Mel Tappan and Andrew Tobias.
I’m old enough to remember Nixon giving pretty much the same speech.
There are four possibilities.
One, they are ignorant of basic economics. This is quite possible since anyone of reasonable intelligence should be able to understand the simple laws of supply and demand.
Two, they are aware of basic economics but are pandering for votes. They appeal to the ignorant. The desire for power causes them to lie.
Three, their ideology blinds them to the facts.
Four, a combination of the first three.
In any case, they are not acting in the interest of the nation.
Sounds like the President of Argentina has a pen and a phone too.
Yep. In the later stages of socialism it becomes illegal for a retailer to sell basic commoditites for any price above cost, or even at cost in many situations. Thus, they are forced to sell at a loss. Guess what happens to any business in this environment?
You are correct on all of the above.
One reason I give Pope Francis a bit of a pass is that in my experience, every Argentine learned his economic theory off the back of a Cracker Jack box.
Nothing knew under the sun.
Price and wage controls ALWAYS fail and lead to shortages.
+1
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