This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge.
Editor’s Comment: In the great logic of governments, the Venezuelan dictator has essentially ordered an end to hunger by making a rule against food shortage. But no rule, no matter how strictly enforced, will work if there is no supply for the food. The shortages of imported food staples is the source problem here with the bread, not the conduct of the bakers, and yet they are facing new, and somewhat bizarre, implements as Maduro takes on the “economic war” against his country – paid for with the price of his people’s hunger.
This remains a desperate situation that is only getting worse, and remains a textbook reminder of why socialism, once the wealth has been stripped or used up, is ultimately doomed to fail.
As Venezuelan “Bread War” Escalates, Maduro Warns Bakers “You Will Pay, I Swear”
by Tyler Durden
With its people resorting to eating flamingoes, the Venezuelan government has decided to find yet another thing to blame for the collapse of the socialist utopia – the bakers!
As The BBC reports, the Venezuelan government says it will expropriate bakeries which fail to abide by new government regulations aimed at tackling bread shortages.
In a growing row between the government and bakers, officials said that bakeries could face fines if people had to queue to get their bread. Severe shortages of basic goods mean that Venezuelans often have to queue for hours to buy essential items.
The government says the shortages are caused by an “economic war”.
Venezuela does not produce wheat and relies on imports bought in by the government which it then sends to mills where it is ground and then distributed.
The government blames bakers for the bread shortages, accusing them of using the flour allocated to them to bake pastries rather than simple baguette-style bread in order to maximise their profits.
Croissants and other sweet baked goods are more expensive than baguettes and French-style breads, as the prices for the latter are controlled by the socialist government.
So the government has decided that more price controls will fix the problem and has unveiled new rules for bakers…
- Use 90% of flour to bake savoury bread and only 10% for pastries and cakes
- Provide a constant supply of bread throughout the day from 07:00 to 19:00
- Ensure next day’s supply by holding over bread from the previous day
And the rules will be strictly enforced…
On Sunday, President Nicolas Maduro announced that inspectors would be sent to 709 bakeries in the capital, Caracas, to ensure they were complying with the new rules.
He said that those “speculators who hide the bread from the people will face the weight of the law”.
“They’re going to pay, I swear. Those responsible for the bread war are going to pay and they better not complain that it was a political persecution,” he added.
Vice-President Tareck El Aissami warned that “bakeries which do not follow [the rules] will be occupied by the government”.
As The Miami Herald notes, two bakeries were already seized for 90 days for breaking a number of rules, including selling overpriced bread.
Juan Crespo, the president of the Industrial Flour Union called Sintra-Harina, which represents 9,000 bakeries nationwide, said the government’s heavy hand isn’t going to solve the problem. “The government isn’t importing enough wheat,” he said. “If you don’t have wheat, you don’t have flour, and if you don’t have flour, you don’t have bread.” He said the country needs four, 30-ton boats of wheat every month to cover basic demand.
The notion that bread could become an issue in Venezuela is yet another indictment of a socialist economic system gone bust.
This article was written by Tyler Durden and originally published at Zero Hedge.
Perfect subject for this question….Food shortages…scary if you have nothing, just another day if you’ve done your work before hand.
I’ve got an All American Canner 930 that I process my food with. Never cooked in it because it’s made of aluminum, but I’ve heard tales of placing a stainless steel bowl inside of the canner and cooking in that so it doesn’t touch the evil aluminum surrounding it. They say to put 2 or 3 inches of water in the actual unit itself, then adding however much water you want in the SS (not a nazi reference, people – its a shortcut for stainless steel) bowl inside. My question is, can you? does it work? and MOST importantly…..is it safe?
…Hell, I don’t feel so bad now about not knowing. Apparently, no one else does either!
I have the same canner and I still would not do that. The thing is that some steam will likely be made and if you’re worried about the aluminum leaching into your food then it will get to the food that you’re cooking in the bowl you’ve placed inside. Stick to what it was made for, canning jars of food. Get a stainless pressure cooker if you want to cook meats and other food that way.
Thanks, bud…Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess I thought the aluminum was too heavy to carry through the steam.
It leaches at the molecular level, nothing heavy about it.
Makes sense.
Yes.that will work. I do that with a chicken and spices. Keeps the spices close to the meatand not wwatered down
See what I mean? I keep hearing “yes, you can” and “don’t do it”…I don’t know what to think
Did it occur to you that if you just wrote Stainless Steel you would have saved some time.
You unfortunately sound like that other guy that blames the shortcut for stainless steel for all the problems in the world today. Maybe next time ask if it’s o.k. to use what the SOCIALISTS use, CI, cast iron.
I just figured I’d clear it up now so it can act as a reference point should anyone read too far into my comments in the future, as you have already.
When writing concerning material used for fabrication, SS means stainless steel to anybody but a leftist nut who is always looking for some type of offense.
The comment wasn’t about you personally, it was about someone else (old TESTament), but by somehow bringing a whole different topic to the table, it’s about you two(2).
Typical of Communist Governments, always have a “bad guy” to blame, instead of them.
It shouldn’t take much longer until HYPERINFLATION and a SHORTAGE OF FOOD produces a new socialist revolution in Venezuela.
I’ll put my money on May 1st. 🙂
Socialist people are too stupid to realize they are actually Communists.
Won’t be long before they are executing the farmers for not meeting their quotas.
John,
Google Stalin’s Holodomor, 1932-33 that murdered an officially estimated 7 million to 10 million Ukrainians.
Pulitzer Prize winner NY Slimes writer, who visited the USSR around then, noted he didn’t see anyone dying. Kinda like Walter Matthews of the same Slimes, who helped bring Castro to power, and kill hundreds of thousands more. Not as bad as another famed leftist reporter, Lincoln Steffens, who, after visiting Stalin, wrote about the USSR, “I have seen the future (in Stalin’s Russia) and it works.”
We have the same level of reporting today, what with Brian “I was fired on” Williams, Dan “I found a memo” Rather, and all of CNN.
Oh yes. Since I won’t be seeing anything Mr. YR posts going forward, I again wanted to leave space for his insults right here: _____ Knock yourself out, mon ami!
I can’t see you, I can’t see you. I can’t see you. So how old are you now? I know after a certain age you start to go backwards. So how are things in the crib?
A Communist is just a Socialist who wants to confiscate your guns. 🙁
Venezuela has two problems 1) Democrats( their version of them) and 2) Non-Democrats have all been disarmed.
I seriously doubt anybody with half a brain gave up their guns.
I have my guns, then I have the guns I will give up when they come knocking.
They will think they have collected them all, but they will just get the left overs.
The people in Venezuela are just waiting for the shooting to start.
Why don’t you take those giveaway guns and sell them. Take the proceeds and add to your larder or ammo. I ain’t giving them fagphuckers jack shit except what they don’t want.
It’s foolish to think that if things get to the point of door-to-door confiscation, one can “hand over” some junk and be on their merry way. If you even LOOK like a non-bootlicker, your property will be ransacked, any you will be “interviewed” in depth. ANYONE can be broken. Don’t think that torturing your family would be out of bounds. If any doubt remains, you will just disappear.
I understand there is a new diet fad in Venezuela, the Venezuelan diet for lack of a better name.
It’s highly effective and quite popular from what I understand, the average Venezuelan having lost almost 20 pounds over the last year and obesity now a non issue there.
Obesity is now a state crime.
Further depressing the economy, the scale makers have shut business, but The government nationalized the scale makers because they still needs the scales to count the money it takes to buy a loaf of bread!!!!
well, at least cannibalism has been reduced to a misdemeanor down there. i hear the subways are offering “inch-longs” now. and when you go to the dump, you need a reservation.
America is the only country in the world with fat homeless people.
Another warning. Take heed of it.
How much wheat berries and shelled corn is in your long term storage?
There are plenty of on line survival stores to get what you need in 25 to 30 yr storage supper pails.
Don’t forget a simple but strong hand crank mill or grinder.
Why not just buy flour?
Properly stored it can last many many years.
In a time of crisis, milling your own grain will take too much energy and time.
It is like trying to start a fire with friction sticks when you are freezing. Better to have a zippo handy.
i’m using flour i bought 4 and a half years ago. i HEAR it can’t be stored for more than a few months, but i keep it in a 5 gallon pail with tight lid….NOTHING special….except i live in the so cal desert, so that may help me.???
If you can freeze that flour for 24 hours you’ll kill any weevils that are probably present. Then either throw some diatomaceous earth in the bottom of your storage pail or a couple of bay leaves before dumping the flour in.
I hear the Mormans have studied flour, and now say it can be stored at least 10 years.
Lots of other uses for wheat berries than just grinding to flour. can be cooked like oatmeal,added to soups and stews or rice dishes or sprouted for extra nutrition, JMHO
If grains are properly stored-they can be planted in a total breakdown.
Can’t plant flour and cornmeal.
And it is the plan of globalists like Hillary and Obama, all along, to take America to the same pit the Venezuela is descending into.
I find it incredulous that the liberal FED, knows they must increase interest rates, because they are positive Trump’s “supply side economics” will grow the economy. Meanwhile during the eight years before Trump was elected, they only raised rates once….. The FED knew Keynesian economics don’t work, yet never once spoke out against Obama’s blundering policies.
raising rates will kill the economy.
The really can never raise rates to what the need to be. They need to be 6 to 8%. Not 0.25%.
If the rates were 6 or 8% the debt would be unpayable and the government would collapse.
I seriously doubt the rates will ever pass 1% again.
EVER is a long time….SOMEday, interest rates WILL return to “normal”.
Rates have been raised now three times, we are at 1% now. In a speech just weeks ago Yellen openly spoke of returning to 1/2% increase increments. We could easily be back to 2 or 2.5% interest rates in just a few months.
2% of a $20,000,000,000,000.00 debt is $400,000,000,000.00 in interest alone. Plus there’s all those unfunded government pensions coming due.
The present U.S. government (Trump only THINKS he is in charge) intends to stay in power, even if it kills us.
to Plan twice prep once. The key word is LIBERAL. Not so incredulous when you know the FED and Obama are enemies of our country.
There is nothing blundering about what Obama is STILL doing to our country. Don’t even give him credit for making a mistake.Everything he did was deliberate against our country.
why am I not permitted to post this?
to Plan twice prep once. The key word is LIBERAL. Not so incredulous when you know the FED and Obama are enemies of our country.
There is nothing blundering about what Obama is STILL doing to our country. Don’t even give him credit for making a mistake.Everything he did was deliberate against our country.
This looks like a test run for what could be made to happen anywhere in the world now. I imagine the grocery stores are empty because some people weren’t queuing. And that’s when everyone around you looks just like you do. I’m sure that the people that don’t look like certain other people in the cities here won’t be queuing. Then the sign will have to go up, “Non-queuers Will be Shot”. (I spelled it right, there’s not a in there)
SOMEONE’S gonna pay, I swear.
Dude… if this is as bad as the media’s making it out to be shouldn’t millions be dead by now? Something’s fishy here and I think it’s the reporting… one way or another.
The war will start when the current president suspends the elections coming up.
Speaking of fishy reporting: I read yesterday (on another site, that I came upon by accident) that Brazil is in chaos…. the ‘militarized police’ (their term) have gone on strike in at least thirty major cities…. gangs of armed thugs roam freely, literally shooting any person they see in the streets…. people are cowering in their homes, too terrified to venture out for food… buildings and cars on fire…. yet, not ONE WORD of this on the TV news or in the daily paper. Nothing. WTF?
This is all BS, in the US are more hungry people that in Venezuela, it’s all about giving the Americans the idea that abroad it is worse than in the US ! In Venezuela are corporations stockpiling food in order to sell them at increased prices afterwards !
Rudy, you may be technically correct. We do have a lot of Americans that go to bed hungry by American standards, but almost no one starving.
Venezuela has significant numbers starving.
There are no starving or poor people in America.
Anybody that is “poor” is on welfare and they eat better than anybody.
free housing, free healthcare, free food, free day care, free cell phone, free school breakfast and lunch and more.
If these “poor” people get all the benefits they are entitled to it is equivalent to a $30 an hour job.
So don;t give me bs about people in America starving or going hungry.
yup….spend 5 minutes watching people walking in the door at walmart…..there aint many skinny people.
LMAO! you hit that bulls eye dead center!
A lot of the land whales you see in Walmart are due to poor nutrition. They eat the wrong foods, the cheap processed carbohydrate prepared foods are engineered to cause people to crave them and overeat.
Thank you for posting that.
The “the cheap processed carbohydrate prepared foods” also satisfy the hunger at that low price. More satisfaction can be purchased for less money, as in over eating the wrong stuff.
For the price of a bag of apples they can eat way more junk food and be satisfied.
Sad really. Lack of education also plays a part.
Elton John was right–“Times are changing, now the poor get fat…”
#1 reason American kids go hungry–mom sold the EBT card.
You hit the nail on the head. I know several people that live off of the government, and they have no financial problems, like the rest of us poor-working saps. They get free EVERYTHING. You name it, they get it for nothing. It’s probably worth even more than $30 an hour. As part of Trump’s plan to make America great again, he needs to demolish the welfare system. It will work as good or better than any wall to keep parasites out. If you are starving in this country, it’s because you are too lazy to walk to a homeless shelter, or too lazy to get on welfare.
Costco sells a nice large mortar and pistol, which is as basic as it gets, outside two smooth rocks. I love my Vita Mix. As long as I have electricity, I’m good. I have a hand grinder which we use to grind meat but it could grind wheat berries.
If you have a fig tree, count your blessings. The white sap can be used as rennet for turning milk into Cheese.
Bon Appetite
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The masses of people are always stupid.. It’s good that most are. It very smart. It gives us peppers time to prepare and to clear out in time before the wars start..
One more thing I need to let you guys know. Don’t pay any attention to poeple who are tellign us that the new world order has been defeated, they they are on thier last legs. That bullshit. They are in 100% power in the US, and thats why they are on TV publically attacking Trump..they are not on their last legs like what most think..rhe Rothshild banking family runs and controls Russia and China is run by Lee ka shing..who is a Rothshild..what I just posted here is a fact of life. He is th one behind the US invasion by China.. He is the one who is coordinating the attacks on the US. Behind th e military build up of those islands and now they want to increase troops off shore by 400%.. We wik be having a third world War.. So I have news David Wilcox, stop lying and bullshitign people telling them that aliens will stop WW3. That is total complete bullshit. The aliens will not be intervening because if they were. We would not have gotten to this point..and this is another fact of life..
HCKS..
Playing both sides of the chess board. Rinse. Repeat.
Regarding Mr. Wilcox’s idea of external Alien Interference. Let’s then put this way: It would be both illegal and immoral to cut the fence and free your neighbor’s cows.
” Viva La Revolution! ” I’ll bet they regret that.
You know they are desperate if they are blaming the bakers now.
The Butcher the Baker the Candle stick maker.
They all get to go to jail. One day they will run out of people to blame.
Socialist Guberments works so well!!!! The next step for the USA.
Sgt.
The Poles used to say under Communist Jaruzelski:
“When socialism comes to the Sahara, there will even be a shortage of sand.”
I guess now it should be “Since socialism came to Caracas, there’s even a shortage of cornbread!”
PS: To help Mr. YR with his insults: Pls post your latest invective in the space provided here: _______ Thanking you in advance, as I won’t be seeing your reply)
I hope for your sake there’s no shortage of Kaopectate. You should snort it.
And they are not insults. They are observations. I guess if you know that what you are posting will be read by someone who knows better, then you had better try and deflect any of those observations before hand huh? Uh, and don’t read this. Talk about being puerile, you should go look in the mirror. And don’t forget to change your diaper.
Sgt. Dale
The USA is headed that way. Lots of Give Me Dats.
You mean the Free Shit Army….
The USA is headed that way. Lots of Give me Dats.
You can say that again!!
“Socialism (lit. ‘gouvernement’ in Fr.) is the great fiction, whereby everybody endeavours to live off of everybody else.”
– Fredric Bastiat, 1801-1850
And, why yes, you ARE indeed right! Leftists STILL have no clue why this has NEVER worked, WILL never work, and CAN never work… but that won’t stop them from trying over and over and over again… using YOUR money.
PS: Yes to socialism! Confiscate ALL Hollywierd Learjet leftist mansions and redistribute to the illegal immigrants (google George Clooney mansions to get a start,then click “images.”
TEST, BRAVO! I always enjoy your posts. You have remarkable insight. The only hope I see for Venezuela now would be a coup. Surely to God, there must be enough members of their military who clearly see what’s going on and know what really needs to be done and that’s overthrow Maduro and company. As long as they stand back and ‘follow orders’ from that scumbucket, they’re just as guilty as he is of starving their people.
TEST, re: the ‘Hollyweird Learjet Leftists’
The shadow gvmnt/deep state/illuminati/nwo/luciferians/secret cabal/ control trillions of dollars, secret societies, religious cults, intel agencies, and criminal syndicates, including most of Hellyweird.
These people are enslaved to the illuminati, which does not allow them to exit the cult. If they attempt to get out of their cages and free themselves, they are warned and then ‘removed’, ie. destroyed. Their pimps watch the cash flow and keep them under their control.
Therefore, all they can do with their multimillions is spend it on themselves, with an occasional ‘fund raiser’ for approved causes.
Don’t feed or encourage the animals. I mean, I don’t know what I mean. Like what is the guy that spent his whole life on some campus.
From the moderator? “You already said that.” No I didn’t!
TEST, re: the ‘Hollyweird Learjet Leftists’
The shadow gvmnt/deep state/illuminati/nwo/luciferians/secret cabal/ control trillions of dollars, secret societies, religious cults, intel agencies, and criminal syndicates, including most of Hellyweird.
These people are enslaved to the illuminati, which does not allow them to exit the cult. If they attempt to get out of their cages and free themselves, they are warned and then ‘removed’, ie. destroyed. Their pimps watch the cash flow and keep them under their control.
Therefore, all they can do with their multimillions is spend it on themselves, with an occasional ‘fund raiser’ for approved causes.
Until these people rise up for themselves they will only get more of the same… and worse. Since those in power have no fear of the people then there is no reason for those in power to change. With all the talk of bread and pastries the French Revolution comes to mind… perhaps they will take the hint.
Yes, let them eat cake!
4 × 30 tons = 240,000 lbs.
So, for 1 lb per week of bread that is only enough for 60,000 people. Probably only enough for Maduro supporting army.
They are using the adolf eichmann formula for starving Jews. They need to switch to the Stalin-Ukraine formula, it works much faster.
When you set price controls on bread in an economy where you have runaway inflation, the bakers will look for some way to avoid the price controls. Using the flour to produce baked goods that aren’t under price controls is the only thing they could do. The bakers must pay the inflated prices for other goods. Legislating more controls over the bakers only forces the bakers to go out of business. The next step the government must take is to require the bakers to stay in business.
A little bit of forced labor never hurt anybody….
Arbeit macht frei
“Arbeit macht frei” (German pronunciation: [ˈaɐ̯baɪt ˈmaxt ˈfʁaɪ]) is a German phrase meaning “work sets you free”. The slogan is known for appearing on the entrance of Auschwitz and other labour camps.
The bakers will become twisted like they did back in the 14th century and put chalk in your bread (leavening) and that will make you sick and many will state they are gluten intolerant and so on, tears the gut up. They will start adding in chemicals and ingredients to stretch that dough. Truly smart baker will send the kids out to collect the wild wheat.
Our ‘snowflake liberals’ need the outcome experienced in Venezuela rubbed into their faces. Big government is not there to take care of you. Big government is the cause of your problems.
it is George Bush’s fault.
Which Bush? 🙂
Venezuela is another sad situation we common people can do nothing to help. But what about the uber rich? If communist agitator George Soros put his money into helping some starving there, instead of spending millions to try to disrupt here, other billionaires might pitch in and prevent this deplorable situation from continuing to cause suffering and death. It appears to me that the uber rich lack the gene for compassion. They are mentally ill.
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Yes, every uber rich person I know is mentally ill…..yea….
They got a banker directly from Israel to fix things there. All should be fixed in no time.
That’s a nice thought, but…
The Venezuelan politicos believe their current situation is due to outside intervention, not their failed administration.
And so, they don’t want others help. Others caused the problem, you see.
“Then let them [not] eat cake!”
This war on food for the Venezuelans has been going on 4 or 5 years now. I do not understand why the people are not growing what they need and specially wheat! It is so lush and beautiful there and they have no food? no real reason that there is no wheat being grown in Venezuela, No reason to be dependent on other countries to feed your people that’s total insanity.4 years long enough to grow , milk and slaughter a cow. If I lived there I would learn what sedges and hedges were growing wild for my flour. Many things can be ground to flour and used for baking even trees so for me it makes no sense to be dependent on modern food when it is mostly poison anyway.
It’s too wet to grow wheat in Venezuela, but most farms that did grow exportable cash crops like sugar, cocoa beans etc were all taken over by the government years ago, who ran them into the ground.
Communism is great in theory. It is the structure of the US MILLITARY except the money and top position are democratically controlled, also promotions are supposed to be merit based.
As seductive as communism is to the bleeding heart, it is a really bad match for human psychology. Thus it always fails within a generation or two.
? Ain’t socialism wunderful
Vote for me and we will give you everything for ‘free’ because the rich will pay for it
The peeple are their own worst enemy
They got exactly what they wanted..
Arrogant-stupidity has become a virtue in the NWO
Have a good day
Communism is characterized by some very very insane ideas. Killing and torture are part of the program. What has accompanied other major transitions in communism is a deliberate famine. The holodomar is the name put to the deliberate starving of 6 to7 million in Russia, specifically Ukrain. China starved 20 million. These man made famines generally serve more than one purpose. Submission of will is the primary goal. People sufficiently bowed by hunger tend to be less likely to revolt. I think it is because hunger is so primal, ones instinct instructs one towards any one in power even if he was the cause. The victim feels helpless, not agressive. He blames his own weakness and inability to fight off the perpetrators of the famine. It is similar to being raped and feeling shame.
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Prep tip.
I use the bottom shelf of my “not frost free” great for long term storage freezer for prep supplies. It is the coldest. It contains things that last a long time, but last nearly indefinitely when frozen. Olive oil and non-gmo organic flour is its primary contents. I can make bread every other day for months with the flour in that freezer.
I date and rotate the flour and olive oil, etc so it’s fresh. What I have will last until it expires. Meanwhile even if I lose power I can make bread for months.
Learn to make bread and how to naturally breed bread yeast, if you have none. I buy yeast at the big box food store every six months and always have a several months supply on hand. Yeast is very cheap when you buy it by the pound.
If you can make extra bread, you can sell or barter it. I’d sell bread long before I’d sell ammo.
Plan twice, Prep Once:
Olive oil is expensive and much of it is fake. Kirkland Organic Olive Oil is not fake. Kirkland is Costco’s own brand. I put my dry goods and oils in the freezer, too. It also kills anything that might become wormy, killing two birds with one stone.
Never eat hydrogenated or semi-hydrogenated oil, cottonseed, canola, soy are bad for you. Have you ever heard of Tumers of fat. That’s right. Your body will turn toxic fats into Tumers to protect you when there is too much of it to process through elimination. I’m guessing some of it winds up as plaque in your brain. Alziemers, I bet they can’t find a cure, because it is caused by something like toxic oils used in tons of products. $$ money money money…
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Tumor (not tumer)
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Absolutely, Hydrogenated oils are a killer.
I forgot to say I seal bags of flour in plastic when I freeze them, I don’t want the moisture levels to change.
I also have sealed cans of wheat berries, they can be sprouted and eaten, or ground into flour for bread. The canned wheat berries are rated for a 20 yr shelf life. I have a hand wheat grinder, I’m in the process of adding a 12/DC motor to it that I can drive from a battery/solar panel.
When I buy yeast, it comes in sealed containers, I store it anyway in the refrigerator. This can double its life another year beyond the expiration date. There is a way to proof yeast, which is critical since it is a living organism. A good book on bread making will cover how to do this. Since I started storing yeast in the fridge, I’ve never seen it fail a proof test.
You are right, a lot of olive oil is not all olive oil. Find a good brand and stick with it. I buy more than one type. Some olive oils are better to cook in, and some are better to just cook with. There is a difference.
Mar 11, 2017 VENEZUELA INFLATION JUMPS 741% Total Currency Collapse Inevitable
Venezuelan consumer prices rose 700 percent while the economy contracted by 18.6 percent, according to preliminary central bank figures seen by Reuters, the sharpest contraction in 13 years and the worst inflation reading on record.
https://youtu.be/pR23wcLFQEI