Venezuela’s Surreal Prices .

[Bacchus4.0]

http://finance.yahoo.com/photos/venezuela-s-surreal-prices-1412257767-slideshow/

A locally produced bath towel as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $136 in Caracas.

An aluminium pressure cooker as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $753 in Caracas.

A five-gallon bucket of house paint as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $528 in Caracas.

A hair dryer as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $697 in Caracas.

A 50 lb. (22.7 kg) bag of Purina Dog Chow as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $272 in Caracas.

A Big Mac as photographed with an illustrative price tag of $14.60 in Caracas.

An Adidas Adipure Crazy running shoe as photographed in a studio with an illustrative price tag of $1,198 in Caracas.

[99th_Monkey]

1. Those aren't US dollars are they? nt

[Bacchus4.0]

2. yes they are n/t

[hack89]

3. It is the price in US dollars

using the exchange rate the vast majority of businesses have to use to acquire dollars to buy foreign goods.

What it shows is the price businesses actually have to pay for the goods they sell. The VZ economy is plunging into recession because business cannot get the dollars they need to purchase foreign goods and materials. That is why companies are shutting down and why there are widespread shortages of basic necessities like food and medicines.

[99th_Monkey]

4. Well then, I guess I'll not be visiting there any time soon. nt

[Bacchus4.0]

10. Correct, they would only give you 6 to 10 Bs for a dollar. Don't use an ATM or a credit card

You will in fact be paying $14 for a big MAc at that conversion rate no matter what the chavistas say. Check out airline prices from Caracas and see how ridiculous they are.

[Fred Sanders]

5. Highly misleading. The prices are converted to the blackmarket rate for dollars...12x the difference

So you have to lower the prices quoted by a factor of 12.......but do not let facts get in the way of the anti-Venezuela propaganda.

"The government of President Nicolas Maduro calls the country's minimum wage of Bs. 4,252 the highest in the region when converted to $675 using the official exchange rate, the galloping black market for currency considers it as just $42.50 when converted at the street rate of Bs. 100 per US dollar, the rate which many importers and retail outlets must use to acquire hard currency."

Goods are not purchase using black market dollars, they use their own currency....not even a good try.

Try again.

The inflation rate is a popular one to rag on about.

[Bacchus4.0]

6. Incorrect!! the prices would be those at the OFFICIAL rate of 6:1 $120 towel would be Bs 720

If its the black market rate it would be under $10. However since they only get 4252 amonth that is alot of money for a towel.

[Fred Sanders]

7. I think Yahoo is wrong, what towel costs a quarter of your monthly wages anywhere? Get real.

[Bacchus4.0]

8. Thats the point of the article chief n/t

[Fred Sanders]

9. The point of the article, as most on exteme RW Yahoo politics, is to mislead.

I support every democratically elected government that continues to govern democratically, it is the will of the people, some have problems when the wrong people, SOCALISTS, are elected.

[Bacchus4.0]

11. Go there an check yourself. The towel costs Bs 720. WHich is $120 at the official rate

The black market rate its about $7. Problem is when you only make BS 4200, a towel costs you 20% of your income. chavismo is a disaster.

[Zorro]

14. You're a dangerous person, Bacchus

I think I'm jealous.

[maximillian1974]

12. don't get sucked into a conversation fred

For some reason Bachus has some hatred for maduro and chavez. Maybe his family lost out in the move to help the poor or maybe he is anti-socialism, but he gets nasty quickly....

[Marksman_91]

16. Not really, many here like me and Zorro and MADem think the same

Of course, the only thing is that we actually have some knowledge about how economies work and don't let ourselves be blinded by outdated "leftist" ideologies which makes us refute any facts that are presented in front of us. You are no different than the extreme right-wing teabaggers and conservatives.

[hack89]

13. What do you think happens in countries with exploding inflation

and foreign currency shortages?

[Marksman_91]

15. Dude, I'm from Venezuela! I go there every so often and have friends and family still there

And not just that, I also read a variety of spanish-language news sites, many which are based in Venezuela, including one Chavista blog called Aporrea.org which has recently had many of its writers start to talk very harshly about all the economic difficulties happening there right now. This isn't just Yahoo, it's many news sources that talk about all this. Do you read The Economist? They recently called Venezuela the worst-run economy in the world. It isn't some bullshit "anti-Venezuela" campaign that all media has, for some reason that you somehow came up with, decided to all just participate in. Theyre just facts which you can easily check for yourself if you'd actually go to the fucking country instead of remaining behind your laptop inside your first-world home reading REAL paid-by-the-Chavista-government bullshit propaganda sites like VenezuelaAnalysis or Telesur or what-have-you. So, you know, before you open your ignorant mouth, just check with other reliable sources first before claiming something idiotic that makes you look like an ignorant fool.