Price Controls Will do Nothing for Venezuela Economy

Jorge Castañeda is currently a professor of international relations at New York University and a former Foreign Minister of Mexico. He gave us his two cents on the recent crackdown by President Nicolas Maduro on high prices at some retail chains in Venezuela. This has led to looting and chaos in some stores, as shoppers flood them to get cheap items before they’re gone.

This move by Maduro is in response to Venezuela’s staggering 54 percent inflation rate this year, a significant problem for local government officials if you consider that municipal elections are coming up on December 8th. Maduro has vowed to step up the government’s efforts to control the prices of a wide range of items, from shoes, to TVs. On Thursday night, he also said that he had jailed 100 businessmen who were charging too much for their goods.

Manuel Rueda is a correspondent for Fusion, covering Mexico and South America. He travels from donkey festivals, to salsa clubs to steamy places with cartel activity.