tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post3696457821835304429..comments2023-09-11T10:45:49.957-07:00Comments on Honduras Culture and Politics: Emergency ForetoldRAJhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-26952230173348323512010-10-14T20:13:01.169-07:002010-10-14T20:13:01.169-07:00Well, of course a random poster who suddenly appea...Well, of course a random poster who suddenly appears on Wordpress is more credible than government statistics, RAJ. It's part of the magical thinking by means of which the current dictatorship is going to feed its population. <br /><br />--CharlesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-70744826945840243872010-10-08T20:08:45.436-07:002010-10-08T20:08:45.436-07:00We are astounded that you think the price of beans...We are astounded that you think the price of beans registered by the national statistical institute has no relationship to the actual prices of beans. That simply makes no sense, and we simply cannot understand your logic here. The price of beans as registered by surveys of the pulperias in Tegucigalpa (which is the source we linked to, you really need to read the links) is a real price. Not a fictional, ideal, price. The fact that you might have paid a different price for some beans doesn't change that. And it is ONLY with comparative data-- measured in PRECISELY THE SAME WAY-- that you can ever compare economic circumstances. So sorry: apples to apples, not apples to oranges. Both are real fruit, but in this case, only one is really recorded in a historical form one can actually use.<br /><br />We also wonder what you basis is for claiming that there was no bean shortage in 2008. It is bizarre to claim that there was no shortage because if you were willing to pay enough you could buy beans. A shortage refers to the lack of adequate supplies to provision everyone. When a shortage occurs, the demand (number of people wanting a product) is higher than the supply (amount of the product absolutely available). This drives the price up. For the people with the resources to pay the price, there is no shortage. But for the people without those resources, there is a shortage.<br /><br />I am quite sure you will continue to insist there was no shortage, and perhaps there is no shortage now. But the economic statistics show otherwise. And while you may want to insist that a reserve would not matter, a reserve can be released into a market where a shortage exists, increasing the supply and thus countering the forces that would increase the price.<br /><br />That's economics. It isn't our opinion. Not sure why you want to insist that your personal experience-- which you must acknowledge did not cover every outlet in the entire country-- counts more than the actual statistically measured reality. As the saying goes: you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-85227975414637807932010-10-08T08:52:38.660-07:002010-10-08T08:52:38.660-07:00If the actual price to consumer might have been hi...If the actual price to consumer might have been higher, then this claim seem pretty meaningless: "A bean shortage due to losses from heavy rains, this time in October, also happened in 2008. However, then, the price never exceeded $0.72 a pound in pulperias". You introduced the price, "never" (not exactly ambiguous) and specifically, pulperias. This is what prompter my reply (it isn't true, on the ground, in any type of pulperia, official or otherwise). Since the official price is not the real price, it is of little value in any analysis (comparing hypothetical statistical apples to hypothetical statistical apples has nothing to do with real life in Honduras). The reserves may or may not be all that noteworthy, since if sold at crisis they will have an even greater real price. Truth be told, there was no big bean shortage in 2008. Anyone who had money and needed beans could easily find them in great quantity. Beans were all over the country. The problem was not a lack of beans but the price of the beans. Few could afford them. A reserve, in itself, doesn't solve this problem, one that is magnified by irrational claims regarding fuel costs, speculation, fear mongering, and local-level profiteering.Marcus Brewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03296599873039350043noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-12881980349909553532010-10-07T18:20:58.695-07:002010-10-07T18:20:58.695-07:00The actual price of beans paid by a consumer might...The actual price of beans paid by a consumer might well have been higher in 2008, but also might well be higher in 2010.<br /><br />You are comparing apples and oranges. We are comparing apples and apples: the official price is what is registering an astonishing increase.<br /><br />We aren't clear where you are getting the idea that anyone is describing a "success story" in 2008. What we are describing is the fact that under similar conditions in 2008, the price rise according to the National Statistical Institute was not as steep (apples to apples). <br /><br />The price you or anyone else paid could well have been different-- but the proportional rise today in the same communities and situations is likely to be much higher. (oranges to oranges.)<br /><br />The question is, why the steep rise? why the emergency declaration?<br /><br />One factor that we can point to that is clear is that the strategic reserve developed in 2009-- which was intended to prevent similar price spikes-- was sold off under the Micheletti regime.<br /><br />No success stories here. Plenty of failures, though.RAJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00097415587406899236noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1338612245455097792.post-73469365403234425862010-10-07T16:26:11.190-07:002010-10-07T16:26:11.190-07:00There might exist government reports declaring the...There might exist government reports declaring the target price of beans in 2008, but that need not correspond to the actual price in pulperias - in other words what Hondurans actually pay. At the exact time in question, in much of Southern Honduras beans were routinely way above $0.72 (the price was often over $1). So much so that I was helping deliver beans bought in massive quantities in Tegus or beyond, to outer Choluteca regions and as far out as San Marcos de Colon. This couldn't be done by bus as Mi Esperanza service was almost always maxed out with food cargo being delivered to San Marcos. Whatever plan was in place, it did not work in measurable areas of the country as I was shown what to do by people doing the same thing to routes in greater Danli and also Santa Rosa. The plan did not help any poor Hondurans I encountered, becuase there was no enforcement and it was open profiteering on every level from generation to mom-and-pop pulperia. Discounting the reserves plan, the "success story" last time around was a success on paper.Marcus Brewerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03296599873039350043noreply@blogger.com