Hugo Chávez vs. Henry Hazlitt
The first thing to be said about wage and price fixing is that it is harmful at any time and under any conditions. It is a giant step toward a dictated, regimented, and authoritarian economy. It makes impossible arrangements that both sides are willing to agree to. It sets aside contracts that have already been made in good faith. If an employer wishes to give a man a raise in pay, and the man deserves it, he is nonetheless forbidden to do it under the new regulations. This is a grave abridgment of individual liberty.
This is a line by Henry Hazlitt’s attack on price controls. Mr. Hugo Chávez holds a different view:
President Hugo Chávez has ordered Venezuelan troops to raid shops and businesses that raise prices today in the wake of a big currency devaluation.
“Right now, there is absolutely no reason for anybody to be raising prices of absolutely anything,” he said yesterday . “I want the national guard on the streets with the people to fight against speculation. Publicly denounce the speculator and we will intervene in any business of any size.”
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Sounds like FDR wanting to arrest James Lincoln, of Lincoln Electric, because he paid almost twice the wage sanctioned by the Electrical Workers Union, who asked FDR to step in and punish Lincoln. You see, Lincoln’s company was not unionized, and for that payment of higher wages, he made the union look bad. Government had a role to play, which was fine for tyranny. claysamerica.com
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