The

Tyranny

of

Socialism 

Venezuela Debuts New Banknotes Amid Soaring Inflation

Venezuelans stood in long ATM lines Monday to take out new, larger-denominated bills that President Nicolas Maduro hopes will help stabilize the crisis-wracked economy.

DYI:  No it will not stabilize anything only until you end these insane socialist policies and regain free markets, private property rights, rule of law, low taxes and minuscule government spending will Venezuela end its economic death spiral.  But alas, this will never happen as Maduro is the worst kind of Socialist - THE TRUE BELIEVER!  He will double down and triple down only to be bewildered as to why all of his socialist education doesn't work in the real world.    

Maduro last month said he was scrapping circulation of the most used bill, the 100-bolivar note, and replacing it with new bills ranging from 500 to 20,000 bolivars. 

Residents in Caracas expressed shock at seeing bills with so many zeros — a sign of how worthless the bolivar has become amid triple-digit inflation and a collapse in foreign exchange reserves that has led to severe food shortages. 

"I never thought I'd have such a big bill in my hands," Milena Molina, a 35-year-old sales clerk, said as she inspected crisp, new 500-bolivar notes she had just withdrawn. "But with the inflation we're suffering, the notes we had weren't worth anything and you always had to go around with huge packages of bills." 

Monday's rollout of the first batch of imported notes came weeks later than the government had originally promised. Maduro last month ordered the 100-bolivar note to be withdrawn from use well before the replacement bills were ready, leading to widespread chaos as Venezuelans rushed to spend the bills before they were taken out of circulation.

DYI:  At least there was a reduction of the money supply but you did it on the backs of your every day citizen.  With your new bills and no policy changes in the direction of free markets inflation will once again soar ahead.

 With cash running out, looting and protests were widespread and Maduro had to backtrack. On Sunday, he extended for the third time, until Feb. 20, the deadline for the 100-bolivar note to remain legal tender. 

While the new denominations should make cash transactions easier the relief may be short-lived: the 20,000-bolivar note is worth less than $6 on the widely used black market, where Venezuelans turn when they can't purchase dollars at the tightly controlled official rate. With inflation forecast by the International Monetary Fund to hit four digits this year, few economists expect the currency to rebound any time soon.

DYI:  Why have failed lessons of Socialism or Communism have to be repeated? The allure of obtaining something for nothing is so strong it overwhelms common sense!

DYI