The situation eroded quickly, reaching an early head in the summer of 2015. Prices were skyrocketing because of inflation, caused by the government using newly printed money to pay off debts and make payroll. But the government had accused corporations that ran large grocery chains of “price-gouging.”
I remember reading about this at the time, and in a way I still can’t quite believe it, nearly ten years later. In July 2015, a massive police contingent raided a hoard of food and grocery products in Caracas. They found tons of food and groceries, which they then distributed for free to people in the street, thereby “liberating” the necessities from the hoarders.
I would say: nothing. Our learrning curve is negative
But once the warehouses were raided, and the contents donated to the public, prices of food immediately tripled, or more, if food could be obtained at all. Groceries all closed, because their supply chains were cut off by the anti-gouging order. Seizing a warehouse full of food meant that a few thousand people got food for “free” for one day, but suppliers immediately tried to get their shipments sent elsewhere, before they could be “liberated” by the “representatives of the people” working for President Nicolas Maduro.
I should emphasize again that I am not trying to make a partisan point. Venezuela, at a time when it was having trouble feeding its population, also imposed very large tariffs on imported agricultural and other imports, thereby raising prices for consumers even further. But those policies pale in significance when compared to the price control fiasco.