The article I read came from Harare, Zimbabwe where almost 5,000 owners and managers of shops and gasoline stations were arrested for overcharging. The government had slashed prices by 50% to offset inflation. However, these people arrested were found to be in opposition to the government's order and were briefly jailed.
I found this interesting because first of all you would never hear of something like this happening in the U.S. and second because the President of Zimbabwe blamed the problem on Western Sanctions and not on the mismanagement of his government. I can understand the program is a way to hinder inflation and re-enforce price stability, but it also caused essential foods and basic necessities to be taken off the shelves because the shop owners couldn't afford to lower their prices to the governments standard. In a country where some people may only eat once a day and rely on those stores for the basic needs are now unable to obtain these vital goods. Although the program was to ensure the protection of customers against rising costs I feel it may be causing more to go hungry.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/07/26/zimbabwe.arrests.ap/index.html
1 comment:
I don't think I can see anything about Zimbabwe without having to comment on it. I'm actually surprised to see that much coverage about this God forsaken place. It is one of the worst socio-economic crises of our time and yet there is so little we can do. This has become sort of a prayer for me now, each time I see something about Zimbabwe I wish Mugabe will soon stop his reign of apocalypse, please join, make people aware.
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