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 Replies: 110 / Views: 18,183 |
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
901 Posts |
Shocking.
With it's natural resources, Venezuela really should be a powerhouse in South America
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
4883 Posts |
A number of interesting recent articles related to this topic - Former treasurer under Hugo Chavez sentenced in U.S. federal court for money laundering. See: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...dUSKCN1NW201Venezuela dramatically accelerates its issuance of banknotes. See: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...d=markets-vpThe black market in Bolivars unexpectedly inverts compared to the official rate of exchange. See: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...s-go-haywireThe situation described in this last article is extremely curious. The underlying premise is that the U.S. Dollar suddenly has, in spite of its stability and unprecedented scarcity in Venezuela, nevertheless lost worth and desirability in terms of increasingly available Bolivars that continue to have less and less purchasing power. That scenario makes no sense to me at all. Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2573 Posts |
Quote:
The situation described in this last article is extremely curious. The underlying premise is that the U.S. Dollar suddenly has, in spite of its stability and unprecedented scarcity in Venezuela, nevertheless lost worth and desirability in terms of increasingly available Bolivars that continue to have less and less purchasing power. That scenario makes no sense to me at all. -The last "Bloomberg" article was published 2 months ago, and concludes: Quote:
The current market inversion doesn't figure to last long. Those buying dollars now in the official market will presumably just migrate into the black market, which should, in theory, wipe out the price difference. In other words, it was likely just a glitch, and the overall gist was that bartering (food & essentials) is far more prominent in this shattered economy. On a recent tv show ("Inside the Story" I believe) they were saying you could fill up a tank of gas for a couple of mangos or cigarettes. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
742 Posts |
 A street in Venezuela. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4883 Posts |
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A street in Venezuela. Wow. Just wow. Colligo ergo sum
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
901 Posts |
Shocking picture that. Money as litter
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
12816 Posts |
What a tragedy.  Edited by CelticKnot
04/03/2019 8:28 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12477 Posts |
I may be alone, but is fiat paper money being worthless such a bad thing?
In Memory of Crazyb0 12-26-1951 to 7-27-2020
In Memory of Tootallious 3-31-1964 to 4-15-2020
In Memory of T-BOP 10-12-1949 to 1-19-2024
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
709 Posts |
That photo of money in the gutter is striking! It reminds me of one I saw of a street sweeper in Hungary just after ww2, sweeping up paper money like fallen leaves in autumn.
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Valued Member
Canada
206 Posts |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12816 Posts |
That is absolutely insane (both photos).
The Hungary photo is both a phenomenal and tragic photo at once. It is the stuff of Pulitzer Prizes and Time/Life magazine covers, IMO.
In the Hungary photo, the handful of people watching the worker sweep up the worthless paper is eerie, likely enhanced by the photo being B&W. They're like ghosts in the background watching some headless figure sweep their lives away; nothing they can do but watch.
That's just my initial take; maybe it's not so grim... maybe someone's Hungarian Monopoly game box tipped over and blew out the window.
The Venezuela photo is eerie in its own way too...
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
709 Posts |
Thank you OttawaVoyageur for that. It proves to me that history does repeat itself. One of the roles of money is a store of value. It must be heartbreaking for ordinary people when hyperinflation reduces their life savings to a small pile of rubbish.  Credit - wikipedia. A US soldier in 1945 in Rangoon, looking at Japanese Invasion Money littering the street. Edited by Anaximander
04/05/2019 04:07 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6514 Posts |
Wow. I just read a majority of this thread going back to 2016. It's just heartbreaking what the Venezuelan people are going through.
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Pillar of the Community
United Kingdom
901 Posts |
During 1920's hyperinflation in Germany it was said to take a suitcase full of reichsmarks to buy a loaf of bread & you would be more than likely to have the suitcase stolen, with the worthless cash left behind in the street.
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
5239 Posts |
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I may be alone, but is fiat paper money being worthless such a bad thing? Yes, it is a very bad thing. Commerce becomes very difficult. Try to imagine a store where they don't want to put prices on the goods, or a job where the purchasing value of your salary declines by 50% every month.Hordes of people lose their savings, jobs, etc. This is well documented. When things have finally collapsed then perhaps something better arises from the ashes, but the process of collapse is rather horrible. Of course there are a few winners, but far more losers. |
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Replies: 110 / Views: 18,183 |
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Posted 03/27/2019 10:09 pm
