Dilemma: You own a chain of retail stores. The government tells you that they are devaluing the currency by a large margin but that you may not raise prices as a result. If you do, your business will be seized by the state. If you ignore this and raise prices as your cost of goods sold is now higher than the legal capped retail price, you go out of business as soon as you have to restock.
From Stratfor:
Venezuela: Almacenes Exito Supermarket Chain To Be NationalizedJanuary 17, 2010Venezuela will nationalize the Almacenes Exito chain of supermarkets for raising prices in violation of a government decree, Bloomberg reported Jan. 17. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on his weekly television show that Almacenes Exito had committed multiple violations of Venezuelan law, and that new legislation may be required to complete the nationalization process. Almacenes Exito is headquartered in Colombia and controlled by French retailer Casino Guichard-Perrachon S.A.
I’m sure many people in Venezuela long for the day when Chavez will be hanging from the end of a rope.
What starts out as mere buffoonery often ends in horror. What a shame that Chavez will likely cause they kind of suffering that will deserve that rope.