The same is true in North Korea — where toilet paper is scarce and matches are housewarming gifts — the experience of which is a repeat of the tremendous deprivation of … And soap? They probably are responsible for more land being forested than it otherwise would be. Vending machines may be a start, or purchasing at the front desk.If a hotel doesn’t provide TP, some customers are just going to use the towels.Don’t most bathrooms down there have bidets?
Back then, I thought it was a fun game, running or cycling from shop to shop, seeing what I could jam in my backpack before heading home. That requires LOTS of water (which has a cost), bleaching chemicals and heat. It requires a significant capital investment as well as strict engineering controls by people who give a damn. I assumed Venezuela would too.Yes, when you get down to fundamentals you have to ask yourself why such expressions as “black market” and “smuggling” even exist. Incentives matter.Toilet paper is an undifferentiated product: ‘Branding’ does not increase its market value and any manufacturer can produce a variety of grades to suit different people’s price/comfort preferences.As such, it is more of a commodity than a product and the profit margin is thin.So when a socialist decrees that ‘everyone needs toilet paper’ and fixes the price to prevent the Greedy Capitalist Manufacturer from ‘gouging’ the people, the frozen price prevents the producer from passing along the increasing costs of inputs. The kind every socialist hellhole needs.I would imagine not having TP for your guests might give you fewer guests, cutting into your profit margins.For the cost of even one unoccupied room a night, you could buy a lot of TP.I would imagine not having TP for your guests might give you fewer guests, cutting into your profit margins. Now, however, Cuba's refusal to reject a system that has only met failure is underscored by their shortage of toilet paper. We are witnessing, in real-time and with stunning consequence, the stone-cold fact that markets are an ineffective mediator of resources, prone to the worst vagaries of herd mentality. Every time there was a border closure, my grandparents would send me out for matches, bread and toilet paper. People used newspapers instead. There would be no such concept as a black market and no such concept as smuggling in a free society. If the only thing illegal is the price, the whole concept of illegality can be ignored.I guess you could shift my “untaxed” to “not sold in the governmentally-approved way” and you’ll have something that applies to both the U.S. and Venezuela. Good for you. Suppliers had to adjust quickly. Helps with the cleaning, IMO. They've seen panic shopping before—for example during previous outbreaks or before big storms. I was 6 at the time, and vividly remember everyone around me gathering all they could.Back then, we did not see stocks replenish quickly. Maybe some environmentalist was trying to send a message.I’m sure the Venezuelan central bank – like all central banks – is working overtime to produce toilet paper.Venezuelans don’t know how to use the three seashells?I’m sure Joe will be here any second to tell us how the fake libertarians in Venezuela ruined the No no no, he’s not joe. Panic Buying Was Our Thing. If good booze becomes scarce, people wille conomize and settle for ordinary booze more often. I can understand a socialist economy having trouble producing decent cars or computers. I really believe that they must be fearing for their life, why else could they believe that unless Venezuelans are the stupidest people to ever walk the earth.I logged in specifically to make the same comment. It’s not their fault that markets hinder them at every turn.So what’s the big deal? So, the prospect of a shortage (especially in the absence of a market clearing mechanism) is going to mean everyone is going to try to make sure they have it for themselves. Stock boys being paid $8/hr and drivers and warehousemen @ $12/hr are being paid vastly more than their counterparts in non-OECD countries.You can do cheaper than that on Amazon. But everyone has to use toilet paper, and it’s hard to economize usage. As someone else noted upthread, a rumor of a shortage will cause people to start hoarding, thus exacerbating the shortage.
The manufacturer produces at a loss and either changes to another line of business or goes broke and produces no toilet paper at all. Tighten up, Reason!That was David Boaz at CATO who said that. Or so they said. You guys are reading too much into this.50 cents a roll in the “black” market? It has a fairly specific meaning.Governments have deliberately encouraged the use of the term “black market” so that it can equate something that is truly evil–slavery, sex trafficking–with something that is not–untaxed cigarettes or booze, marijuana, general labor.And toilet paper is not illegal in Venezuela.