Incentives matter even in a socialist workers paradise

As the gap between the official exchange rate and the black market rate has increased, so has the incentive to exploit rules, like a regulation that allows people to spend $5,000 a year on their credit cards while traveling abroad.

Some Venezuelans travel to nearby Curaçao, where they buy $5,000 of casino poker chips with their credit cards, exchange the chips for cash and then sell the dollars on the black market back in Caracas. . . .

The article also provides a nice example of the shortages created by price controls.

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Incentives matter even in a socialist workers paradise

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