Venezuela Braces for Runaway Inflation As Merchants Weigh “Mountains of Cash” Instead Of Counting It

by | Nov 29, 2016 | Conspiracy Fact and Theory, Emergency Preparedness, Headline News | 46 comments

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    Venezuela is deep into the death spiral, and things are likely to get worse before they get better.

    As the South American nation’s paper currency continues to lose value with each passing day, the people of Venezuela are forced to carry piles of cash just to buy basic goods and services – with many merchants now literally weighing the next-to-worthless cash rather than wasting time to count it.

    Clearly, this does not bode well.

    Venezuela continues to repeat the mistakes of other failed states as its currency comes dangerously close to all-out hyperinflation, as has happened in Zimbabwe and Weimar Republic Germany.

    via the UK Independent:

    Inflation in Venezuela is expected to reach 720 per cent this year, with the largest bolívar bill now worth just five US cents on the black market.

    Some shopkeepers have reportedly taken to weighing rather than counting the wads of cash customers hand them, and standard-size wallets have become all but useless in the socialist South American state. Instead, many people stuff huge volumes of cash into handbags, money belts, or backpacks, in scenes analysts have said are suggestive of “runaway” inflation.

    […]

    Humberto Gonzalez, who runs a delicatessen in the city, said he uses the same scales to weigh slices of salty white cheese and the stacks of bolívar notes handed over by his customers .

    “It’s sad… at this point, I think the cheese is worth more.”

    […]

    “When they start weighing cash, it’s a sign of runaway inflation,” he said. “But Venezuelans don’t know just how bad it is because the government refuses to publish figures.”

    For several years now, President Maduro opted to continue printing more and more cash as a means of dealing with the oil crisis and the collapsing value of the bolívar, and as a result, the money just isn’t worth much at all.

    The printing press simply cannot save the country from a death spiral, but it doesn’t mean Maduro is prepared to let go of power. He has maintained that Venezuela’s problems are due to economic warfare being waged by the United States to topple the oil-rich socialist regime.

    Bremmer Rodrigues, who runs a bakery on the outskirts of Caracas, said his family are at a loss over what to do with their bags of bills. “It’s a mountain of cash, every day more and more.”

    […]

    The shrinking value of the currency has meant that withdrawing the equivalent of £5 from an ATM produces a fistful of more than 100 bills. Some ATMs now need to be refilled every three hours, because the machines can only hold so much cash. This means there are often a limited number of functioning ATMs in Caracas, and long queues to withdraw money.

    Venezuela is scheduled to reissue the currency at higher denominations, but it is unclear how much that will help the larger problems that the country faces.

    Maduro has attempted to stave off collapse and avoid the inevitable by ruling with an iron fist.

    As a result, the people have been forced to endure incredibly long lines to buy food rations; everyday life has been disrupted in every way possible, as crime and poverty have taken a toll on the population.

    Food shortages and inflated black market prices for staples, meat and other necessities have driven many to poach stray animals for food and take other desperate measures. Malnutrition is becoming a rampant problem, and the health of the society in general is at a very stressed point.

    As Shaun Bradley reported:

    Life in Venezuela now consists of empty grocery stores, record rates of violent crime, and widespread shortages of just about everything. The economic and political conditions have been deteriorating for years, but recent stories coming from this once-rich nation are astonishing. Bars have run out of beer, McDonald’s can’t get buns for their Big Macs, and rolling blackouts are a regular occurrence. The average person spends over 35 hours a month waiting in line to buy their rationed goods, and even basics like toilet paper and toothpaste are strictly regulated.

    Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative, spoke about the crisis:

    “When people are literally going hungry and children are dying at birth because there aren’t the right medical supplies … when basic things like Tylenol aren’t even available … this causes a huge amount of angst in the population.”

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    Read more:

    Raw Venezuela: Looter Burned Alive, While “Streets Filled With People Killing Animals For Food”

    Collapsing Venezuela Is Out of Food: “Prepping Became Illegal”, Long Lines Mandatory

    Starving Venezuelans Fed Up With Maduro: “We Want Food!”

    Coming Destruction? Alan Greenspan Warns “Venezuela Under Martial Law and America Is Next”

    Venezuela Isn’t Just in Crisis, But Faces “Total Societal Collapse”

    Venezuela: A Prepper’s Nightmare Come to Life: “Pay Close Attention To What Happens Next”

     

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      46 Comments

      1. Its Official that POS G. Soros is financially backing the Jill Stein Recont attempt. PA deadling passes for any recount there, Wisc refuses to count them by hand, and MI is up for a count. Which is fruitless, but Soros throws $5 Million at the Disruption of Trump Becoming pres. I sure hope Trump put a friggin hit on that Zionist slob and confiscates all his wealth to pay victims including citied for his funded riots in US Cities.

        George Soros Backing Stein’s Recount Scam
        Written by Stephen Lendman Date: 11-29-2016 Subject: Philosophy: Fascism
        George Soros Backing Stein’s Recount Scam
        by Stephen Lendman

        International con man Soros-connected attorney Marc Alias represents Hillary and the DNC. Earlier The NYT reported “Soros…agree(ing) to put as much as $5 million into (lawsuits) which Democrats hope will erode restrictions on voter access…”

        Alias is leading the litigation. Soros said he’s “proud” to be part of it, according to The Times. Last summer, the Washington Post profiled Alias, calling him “a Democratic superlawyer with multimillion-dollar backing,” saying:

        “With a multimillion-dollar commitment from liberal mega-donor George Soros, Elias is challenging laws that, he argues, diminish the impact of important Democratic Party constituencies of African Americans, Latinos and young people.”

        “While Elias will not discuss the funding for his project, Soros’s spokesman Michael Vachon said Elias approached them with a set of proposals for challenging state restrictions that would be helpful ‘up and down the ballot.’ ”

        “That was appealing to Soros, who began his political giving with voter mobilization efforts, Vachon said. And they agreed with Elias that there was work to be done beyond what the civil rights groups, to which Soros also contributes, were doing.”

        “Soros has given $5 million to the trust that funds the litigation, Vachon said, and Elias said he has picked his shots with an eye toward ‘protecting the Obama coalition’ of African Americans, Latinos and young people.”

        A previous article discussed a group led by voting rights attorney John Bonifax and University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society director J. Alex Halderman, calling for recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states Trump won, alleging “manipulat(ion) or hack(ing)” despite no evidence proving it.

        Bonifax is founder and general counsel for the National Voting Rights Institute (NVRI), web site documents showing “generous foundation and institutional support,” including from Soros’ Open Society Institute.

        Is Stein wittingly or unwittingly in bed with international con man Soros? Either way shows her alleged progressivism is phony – a scam despicably betraying supporters.

        Note: On November 27, former congresswoman, 2008 Green Party presidential candidate, true progressive, valued ally and friend Cynthia McKinney tweeted:

        “I never thought I’d see the day: Green Party standard bearer standing shoulder to shoulder with a war criminal…

      2. Article: The Hyperinflationary Endgame: Venezuela Currency Crashes 15% In One Day
        by Tyler Durden

        Nov 28, 2016 11:54 AM

        Just last week we were amazed to report that the Venezuela currency, the Bolivar, had crashed below 2,000 for the first time ever, losing 50% of its value in just two months as the Venezuela hyperinflation had entered its terminal phase.

        As of this morning, the DolarToday.com website, maintained by a person the WSJ dubbed “Public Enemy No. 1 of Venezuela’s revolutionary government, Gustavo Díaz, a Home Depot Inc. employee in central Alabama” reports that having crossed the psychological 2,000 level just one week ago, the Bolivar has just plunged to a new all time low of 3,480.22 on the black market, dropping by 15% from its latest print of 2,972 reported on Friday of last week, and has lost 60% in its value just in the past month.

        So for anyone still curious what hyperinflation in real time looks like, here is the visual answer.

      3. just saw a headline from a venezuelan newspaper “cannibalism reduced to a misdemeanor to ease food crisis”.

        • Link or source?

          • funny in a sarcastic way dot calm, i think is where i saw that one….LMFAO!

        • Sadly is our future. I hope those ‘elites’ taste good because they will be fat n sassy right up to the point where they are eaten by the people they have fucked over. I propose binding them and sewing their mouths shut and suspending them with meat hooks in a walk in cooler. When hungry, just slice off a steak from their thighs.

          • Just wash the body parts down with a good Chianti. fittt fitttt

            • Yuck!

            • Don’t forget the Fava beans

              • Double YUCK!

            • THIS is why you should have BBQ sauce in yer preps….it’ll help with the rats and snakes you’ll have to eat too.

              • BCOD

                Don’t forget the Hot Sauce.

              • Hey wait. Rattlesnake chili, like the kind they once cooked up at the Chili Cookoffs in Texas (about 25yrs ago we’d chase snakes once a year, throw them all in a big clear plexiglass container, and the contestants would start up their chili-making.

                I never had a problem with just eating the snake with salt…

            • wwti/zeus/etc… you have more aliases and personalities than Sybil. Not fooling anyone here.

          • let ’em eat CAKE!

          • Menzo,
            It’s a great joke talking about eating liberal elites.

            For anyone who thinks this is not a joke please look up the word Kuru. It is the common term for the human equivelent to mad cow disease. People get it from eating other people or contaminated animals.

            The disease is a prion, a brain protein that folds and not only no longer works properly, but it tears itself free and now acts like an enzyme. On contact will similarly folds any brain or nervous system proteins. After introduction, the prion can cross the blood brain barrier and act on brain/nervous system proteins eating away at them. It can take years to show symptoms, but the disease progression is exponential and always fatal. It is blood born and contagious by exchange of bodily fluids.

            • I was only jesting about the eating. Not the rest.

              • I know you were joking. I too have engaged in similar spoofs. I fear some immature minds might not realize it was in fact a joke.

                Stories of elites engaging in canibalism in the news (pizza gate) lead me to stop and admit we were joking and speak of the reality of the effects of canibalism.

                Interesting that as we speak Kuru is exploding onto the scene in the Middle East where Jihadists have started eating the hearts (and more) of their enemies. There are thousands who have become infected.

                Last detail I forgot to add to my previous post on the subject. Prions are very stable structures. Extremely high cooking temperatures does not stop them and neither do most sterilizing agents. If present on a surface the prion proteins must be destroyed or washed away.

                • I think eating a bullet would be preferable to cannabilism. Thanks for the information.

                  • In the movie “The Book of Elli”, a sub theme was everyone was afraid of canibals in a post apocalypse world. The apocalypse was, you guessed it caused by global warming. They checked people to see if they had hand tremors like a very old person. Turns out to be a real symptom of Kuru.

                    In a few years some of Obama’s Middle East refugees will likely begin to show symptoms, from someones heart they ate.

      4. remind me of turkey!

      5. Elites in the US….beware!

      6. Any pets, livestock or zoo animals left?

      7. One of Chavez’ closest allies and intellectual guide was Weather Underground agent provocateur, Ayers. Ayers placed his son in close with Chavez. Ayers is closely associated with and was hidden by the green merchants and major pot growers in northern California attempting to destroy the Klamath Dams.

        As goes Venezuela so shall they attempt a region by region take down of critical rural areas. They must destroy rural communities that have vertically integrated food resource infrastructure.

        Once the outlying areas succumb to socialist tactics, the cities will have no food allies.

      8. When reading that Obama passed a law giving government the right to confiscate food, edible plants, and livestock; it occurred to me, they don’t need a law to steal your stuff, but passing such a law discourages easily manipulated people from doing things to insulate themselves in the event of hyperinflation or intentional financial Armageddon.

        __having a self sustaining homestead is ideal. But if one is too poor or otherwise unable to do this, don’t give up and do nothing. Rather than eating out at McDonalds, buy a bag of dried beans. Rather than getting those sexy six inch high heels, buy something that will keep you warm if the electricity is too expensive to afford. Just switching from mindless consumerism to practical expenditures of whatever funds you do have now can make a great big difference in your life, even without a total economic melt down.

        Or buy the six inch heels, you’ll need them when things get really bad and you are desperate.?
        __

        • BC, excellent advice.

          Try to be an investor rather than a “consumer”. I have always disliked the “consumer” word. At least from a human viewpoint.

          Thank you.

        • B from CA

          Six inch high heels, size 11.5 wide. Wearing 40 pounds of body armor.
          Did I mention the heels were red in color.

          • Made my morning laugh – big time! Good one, hahaha!

            • Morning laugh sir? lmao… Hell, I cannot TELL you how many times I have just take a swig of whatever I was drinking and spewed my monitors totally while reading an insanely hilarious response! 🙂

      9. Unless they start printing bills in excess of the $100 there will always be a shortage of the actual physical US dollars. the actual printed dollars are far far less than the Trillions of dollars of debt. No one will be trundling around wheel barrows of US dollars. As long as you can take paper dollars and use them to pay taxes and debts they will have value. Even at todays inflated prices its easier for me to obtain the dollars to fill my gas tank and pay my expenses than it was in the 1960,s. Sometimes back in the good old days. I walked to work because I couldn’t afford gas. It was a choice drive to work and stay home on the weekend. Or walk to work and have beer ,gas and date money on the weekend.

        • You bring up some excellent points about physical, circulating cash. You’re also 100% correct about those paper dollars still having value.

          The key to understanding everything you need to know about what we commonly call money is the amount of actual cash in physical circulation versus the amount of cash sitting in bank accounts, where it only exists on a computer screen. World-wide, there is about $1.4T in physical, circulating US currency; about 50% of this is circulating in the US. That’s $700B in physical currency that Americans can put their hands on. Contrast that with $11T in bank accounts held by Americans at US banks. That’s actually $11T in credit that Americans have stupidly extended to the banks. When you put those numbers in the context of how much US currency is physically circulating in the US, Americans have extended $16 in electronic credit to the banks for every physical dollar circulating in the US.

          It’s also $11T in credit that Americans will never get a chance to put their hands on should those banks blow up. If they’re lucky, they’ll receive worthless shares in a reconstituted bank, or possibly a debit card loaded with electronic scrip (think EBT)that can only be used to purchase goods, to be “made whole”.

          To give you an idea of what kind of value those dollars would have, I’ll use a complete collapse of the financial system as a starting point. The maximum cash value of any physical asset, such as real estate, automobiles, and the like would be 1/16 of the sticker price or book value. Why? All that credit, which was sitting on the banks’ books before it went poof, no longer exists to inflate the price of assets. The reality of the situation: you’ll be able to acquire physical assets for considerably less than 1/16 of the sticker price or book value because people are going to covet that physical cash that dearly.

          Those physical dollars will not be replaced by metals or barter because they are a much more efficient mode of exchange.

          • Hi
            Thank you for the explanation. 🙂
            I don’t understand however how their can only be 1.4T in physical when the Fed were printing 60 billion a month a few years ago in QE. That’s 0.75T right there. Did they not print physical?
            Thanks
            SolarGuy out.

            • Every one of those QE’s, and every subsequent QE, is going to be the same thing: electronic money that only exists on computer screens and will never see its way into circulation. The Fed has figured out that they can do whatever they want on a computer screen, have it bounce back and forth between computer screens and, in the process, not trigger inflation because none of what they’re doing is ever going to exist in the form of physical money a man can put his hands on.

          • No, dollars won’t still have value. Once a $100 dollar bill has the purchasing power of a penny it’s essentially worthless. Zimbabwe had 100 trillion dollar notes. Think about what that means.

        • You don’t understand hyperinflation. Once the dollar loses its reserve currency status and the dollar is no longer used in international oil payments the dollar will become worthless. We’ll see a $1000 price for a loaf of bread. The only question is whether or not you can pay for it with your debit card or not.

          • I take it you’ve fallen for the line that all those dollars are going to bounce back to the US once the dollar loses global reserve status, and that’s what will trigger hyperinflation. Won’t work quite that way because the US has substantial foreign currency reserves on its books, something Venezuela and Zimbabwe do not have. When you have foreign currency reserves, you use your computer screen to bounce something back to the guy who’s bouncing the dollars off his computer screen.

            The Fed already knows it can bounce money back and forth between computer screens without a whiff of inflation because they did it in 2008; the hyperinflation that everyone said would happen has yet to happen.

      10. Quite true on gasoline prices, Old Guy.

        Gas is running around 2 Federal Reserve Notes a gallon here. A pre-65 silver dime has a melt value in silver of 1.20 FRN, 2 dimes = 2.40……meaning gasoline is less than 20 cents/gal in terms of real money.

      11. Make all the Learjet leftists move to Venezuela – after FIRST redistributing their zillion room mansions to the poor and the illegal immigrants.

      12. I’ve been keeping tabs of the value of my house here in ABQ. I’ve kept it as protection from (hyper)inflation if things do go that route. Just went up 10%. WTH. So in Albuquerque, we have something like 3300 homes for sale according to Zillow. How does the value of a house go up when there are so many houses for sale. The laws of economics ain’t flying here. Inflation? Maybe some type of scheme to increase the dollar amount value of the houses such that the delinquent mortgages won’t have as much impact on the banks books due to the houses having a higher dollar amount? Maybe another way of trying to prop up the banks books.
        Jus’ thinking out loud.

        • Just signs of a market that is attracting buyers, I think.

          Here in Seattle, an ordinary nice house can approach $1 million in many neighborhoods. Couples earning $200,000 a year working for Amazon or similar are snapping them up in bidding wars. They’ll learn pretty quickly what 40-year old million dollar houses are going to actually cost them in taxes and maintenance, especially when these pencilnecks discover a plumber is going to charge them a $200,000/year hourly rate to stick two pipes together.

          • I guess there are a “chosen few” who can afford houses. Given the number of houses on the market all over the US, there are lots more unfortunate people having to give up their homes than can afford to keep them.
            California and Texas have 150K+- homes each on the market or foreclosure. Florida leads with 228K.
            I’ve noticed a lot of Californians in NM lately. I guess they sell their high dollar houses in CA and move to podunk New Mexico where the cost of living is 1/4 of CA.

        • The values keep going up because everything that goes into putting the transaction together exists only on a computer screen. Today, the only qualification for a 3% or less down mortgage on any piece of property you want is a pulse. The “money” that goes to the seller only exists on a computer screen. The “money” that makes up the down payment only exists on a computer screen. It’s actually a series of credit exchanges between the parties involved.

          It would be a totally different ballgame if a man had to take a wad of physical cash out of his pocket to make that down payment. It would also be a totally different ballgame if the bank had to deliver payment for the property to the seller in physical cash, rather than electronic credit to his bank account. Valuations and prices would be considerably lower because you would be dealing only in assets that someone can physically put their hands on.

          • Maybe the reason they give a mortgage to anyone with a pulse is because a mortgage is an account receivable/asset. Makes the banks books look good.
            So we are also hearing about the possibility of negative interest rates on savings accounts. We would have to pay interest to store money in the bank. Interestingly enough, savings accounts are listed as a liability on the bank’s books. So if they can get you to move your money elsewhere it would make their balance sheet look better. Also could be trying to encourage people to put their money into the stock market to assist propping it up.
            Lots of angles and manipulation going on these days.

      13. Maybe they have an advantage over us, how are we going to be able to weigh digital or electronic dollars? Throwing a debit or credit card on the scales isn’t going to get you much.

      14. History has taught many things to those who take the time to learn from it. One of those lessons is, sooner or later, all fiat currency systems have failed in one way or another.

      15. I dad use to tell the story about the late 20’s and then the dirty 30’s. he remembers how his father and mother would go to town with a handful of money and bring home a wheel borrow ( so to speak ) of gorcies before the 1929 collapse and then during the 30’s it was turned around. According to dad, they would take a lot money for food and come home a smaller amount of food then before. His story,but tody I went to the store and came home with two small plastic bags for stuff for $20 ( food ) where as 40 plus yrs ago when we were first married and had kids we would get for the same amount four bags of gorices ( still can’t spell after all these years ). It is happening here but on a smaller scale, so far.

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