Venezuela's currency now worth so little shopkeepers weigh vast piles of notes instead of counting them

Scenes on the streets of Caracas said to be reminiscent of the past century's most chaotic cases of hyperinflation

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. 

In 2014, plummeting global oil prices decimated Venezuela's economy. President Nicolás Maduro responded by fixing the official exchange rate and ordering banks to print more cash, which ultimately devalued the currency further, while goods prices soared.

DYI:  Typical socialist response fix the exchange rate and then have the treasury print additional cash.  What a moron....The fixed rate of exchange didn't stay fixed for long as the Bolivar crashed against 1st world currencies and inflation soared.  Is there a socialist dictator school??  They all believe they can have wealth through the printing press.  

Any wonder with all of QE here in the States and yet the economy continues its slow growth?  What is needed is positive interest rates(rates above inflation) in order to suppress the fires of inflation which strengthens the currency.  The citizens longer this is maintained will believe in its currency soundness and will go on a saving spree which is the seed corn for business formation.  Just the opposite of central bankers.

When the price of oil on the global market collapsed by two-thirds in 2014, Venezuela had little else to fall back on, so a natural reaction would have been for the bolívar to collapse. But Mr Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez following the revolutionary leader's death in 2013, instead tried to control the exchange rate, creating a massive black market for currency.

DYI:  Hugo Chavez through government policy hampered industries other than oil in order for the populous to be dependent upon[the] Hugo Chavez government.  His attempt to stay in power for life and in the case of Chavez it worked.  He died prematurely of cancer so most likely he would have not gone the distance.  As I've stated before - now or the next two years Nicolas Maduro will be out of power either by the ballot box or revolution no country will tolerate these conditions as permanent. 

DYI