Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Shocking?

In Monday's WSJ, Mary Anastasia O'Grady summarized the shortages of coffee resulting from a Chavez led takeover of that sector a few years ago.

A telling part of O'Grady article comes when she labels the shortages of coffee resulting from price controls, regulation, and capital controls as predictable.

Are there truly heads of state that think instituting price controls on a product will ensure affordability and adequate supply to meet demand? I believe they do know this. The economics behind price controls is well-established. Even someone displaying a total lack of interest in basic economic principles as Chavez does must have an advisor paying attention to the potential adverse effects of policy.

O'Grady concludes that Chavez knows that his great socialist experiment (yet another) has failed. But he intends to go down with a miserable flair. I agree.

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