Venezuela Bans Queues To Beat Product Shortages

There are times when a little piece of news comes in from some far flung corner of the world and it’s necessary to wonder whether one should laugh or cry about it all. So it is with this remarkable story from Venezuela. The wonders of Bolivarian Socialism are so great that governors in some parts of the country have decided to ban queuing. No, really, I promise you that I am not making this up. Which leads to to something I have mentioned before (and here) and will no doubt, such is the human capacity for economic stupidity, have to go on mentioning until my dying breath. The basic aim of enabling the poor to consume more is not a bad one, it’s in fact an entirely noble thing to strive for. But there are good ways and bad ways to go about such enabling: and screwing with the price system is a bad one. More…