Saturday, July 21, 2007

Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?

BY OIL WARS
07/20/2007


As anyone who listens to all the opposition propogandists knows Venezuela faces a major food crisis with there being chronic shortages of such staples as chickens and eggs.

Of course, they always seem to be in a rush and leave out the second part of the story, which is that consumption of these food items is WAY up, hence the shortages.

Fortunately, today some reporter from El Universal had a little more time on his hands and gave a more complete story:

The national market has in recent months reported shortcomings in the production and distribution of poultry products due to increases in consumption.

In spite of the fact that companies in that sector are working at maximum capacity, and production has gone up 15% this year, it is not sufficient to satisfy the demand of Venezuelan consumers which in turn necessitates imports to make up the shortcomings in the national market.

This year, the production of chicken will reach 900,000 metric tonns and yet still reports a deficit of 8%.

So stated the president of PYMI Poultry, Simon Leal Alfanzo....

Leal explained that this situation is the result of purchasing power, especially that of classes D and E, having gone up 130% in the last three years which has permitted them to increase their consumption of these products.

He also explained that consumption of chicken has gone from 25 kilograms per person per year to 42 kilograms while the demand for eggs has increased from 100 per person per year to 202.


So there you have it, peoples purchasing power and income are WAY up (we already knew that), which in turn leads to increased consumption, so much so that production can't keep up even though it too is growing rapidly.

Truth be told though, this is really something of a philisophical issue. With chicken and egg consumption way up how do you increase production of both? Do you increase the number of eggs for sale, pre-empting the number of chickens you can have, or do you restrict egg consumption for sake of letting people eat a few more kilos of chicken? You can have your chicken, but you can't eat all their eggs too.

Thank you Oil Wars
RENEGADE EYE

32 comments:

frolix22 said...

Nothing good about Venezuela gets past the media filter. Interesting stuff.

beatroot said...

It’s a cute post, that one. But I don’t really understand the chicken or egg bit. If there isn’t enough eggs because you are eating all the chickens then all you do is important more chickens and then let the (state owned collectivized chicks) do the business producing eggs.

Top egg hen could get a prize, like the Soviets gave prizes to the miner who dug the most coal!

So the answer is simply import more chickens. Venezuela imports two thirds of its food as it is. A few more chicks is the answer!

jams o donnell said...

A stakhanohen?

Leftwing Criminologist said...

interesting post, i appreciate that economic growth and chavez's programmes will have boosted consumption but isn't 202 eggs per year per person an awful lot of eggs for someone to be eating? or am i underestimating the consumption of eggs (what is the rate for say some western countries?)?

on another note, the cwi has finally published an article on the RCTV situation in Venezuela which is very interesting, read it at
http://www.socialistworld.net/eng/2007/07/20venezuela.html

beatroot said...

stakhanohen?

jams o donnell said...

Don't worry Beatroot it was a lame joke. Stakhanovite, stakhanohen? It wasn't worth it really...

Frank Partisan said...

Frolix: This article crawled under the filter.

Jams: Surrealist comic?

Beatroot: The aspect of increased consumption causing shortages, is not a topic the opposition to Chavez mentions.

Chavez is lucky to have $$ to import.

Criminologist: I think >200 eggs is reasonable, unless you have cholesterol problems.

I read the article about RCTV. The last paragraph seemed to call for overthrowing Chavez. I think socialism is a process that comes from a correct program. Chavez is hated more for raising expectations of the poorest, than for himself.

Puppeteer said...

They sure like chicken.

beakerkin said...

More BS from the usual apologists.

As Communist thugs steal property from skilled farmers and replace them with political hacks production falls.

Of course when the genocide starts we will hear the same old song and dance about noble motives. Moreover, the Trotskyite bit is nothing more than away for commies to avoid culpability for continued advocacy of theft, repression and class genocide.

Are any of you chicken collectivists ready to surrender your citizenship and live in the messes you advocate for others.

How does such a small country become the third largest source of H-1b visas? Theft and genocide with flowery rhetoric is still theft.

Jobove - Reus said...

explendit relat congratulations

regard from Catalonia Spain

thank you

beatroot said...

Of course when the genocide starts we will hear the same old song and dance about noble motives.

The great thing about the blog is that this type of bull stays hanging there forever. You are going to feel very stupid oneday, mate.

SecondComingOfBast said...

202 eggs sounds like a lot, but then you have to realize that people do more with eggs than just eat them fried or scrambled, etc, for breakfast. Eggs are an important ingredient in preparing a lot of recipes.

Most homemade bread, unless I am mistaken, requires eggs, as does cakes, etc., and a good many other recipes.

The previous egg consumption of 100 eggs per year per person allows for the purchase of appreciably less than one carton of eggs a month. Now they are purchasing about a carton and a half. A carton being twelve eggs.

Of course, like Beakerkin says, they are now having to steal more eggs from those poor collectivized chickens, and at the same time are engaging in greater chicken genocide than ever before. I just don't see how this situation can hold dup.

Graeme said...

thugs steal property from skilled farmers and replace them with political hacks

you talking about the United States Revolution Beak?

Anonymous said...

I believe that some good ol' American KFC could help fill the void. Give The Colonel a chance Hugo. Give The Colonel a chance.

Jeff Richards said...

On another recent issue regarding Venezuela.In case you have not seen this. Here is one of the (many critical) responses to the unfortunate Villalobos editoral in a recent edition of the left wing magazine The Nation. Former FMLN commander Joaquín Villalobos attacked the decision to close RCTV. The article originated in the newspaper El Pias.

Caracas
■ It is sad that The Nation gave space to someone
who is known to have murdered one of El
Salvador’s most celebrated poets and who was
responsible for some of the FMLN’s darkest
activities—the assassination of eleven Salvadoran
mayors—who then failed at politics,
only to turn to academia, where he finally got
recognition from the world’s elite for trashing
left movements in Latin America.
Joaquín Villalobos clearly does not know
what he is talking about, as can be seen by his
absurd claim that Chávez is popular only because
there is no decent opposition. Obviously
he has never seen firsthand the dedicated support
Chávez enjoys or seen just how radicalized
his supporters have become.
Villalobos complains that Chávez did not
make a real—that is, violent—revolution. True,
it is a peaceful revolution because the country’s
poor majority feels it has a voice in governance
for the first time in its history. This is not as
fast as a violent revolution, but as sociologist
Max Weber once pointed out, charismatic
leaders can often be just as catalytic for radical
change.
Villalobos limits his story of what is happen
ing in Venezuela to its negative aspects: continued
reliance on oil production, corruption
and new elites. Although partly true, this is
only half the picture. The other half includes
the growth of participatory democracy, empowerment
and greater social equality (incomes
of the poorest have grown far faster
than those of the rich, which have hardly
grown at all).
Villalobos implies that Chávez would like
to get rid of elections. There is simply no evidence
for such a claim. Chávez has defended his
policies in more elections in eight years (twelve,
to be precise) than just about any politician
on earth.

GREGORY WILPERT
Editor, Venezuelanalysis.com
Author, Changing Venezuela by
Taking Power (forthcoming from Verso)

Tula 49 said...

This is interesting to know, given that these shortages are caused by increased purchasing power of the bulk of the population. It shows in practice that capitalism is not capable of playing any progressive role for the majority of society.

Frank Partisan said...

Pagan: Don't forget quiche.

Beatroot: Massacre in Venezuela? See Caracazo.

Rudy: Thank you for plugging Maryam's article at your blog.

Beak: Trotskyist not Trotskyite. That is Stalinist language.

I can't find the country listings related to H1B. I'm sure you can document what you say. Chavez doesn't seem upset. I wonder if immigrants know they will be as indentured servants?

Jeff: I wish you posted here more often. I will answer you at your blog.

Graeme: You sound like Willie Nelson.

Tula: The opposition doesn't like to acknowledge that there is increased spending power in Venezuela.

Larry Gambone said...

It is simple common sense when you think about it. When you have a country where 80% of the population lived in poverty (Venezuela circa 1990) your food production will be geared to that low level of demand. If there should be an improvement in living standard for large numbers, there will be a time lag in meeting those needs, since you cannot start up farms instantly. The result will be a price rise. One need not stoop to fantasies about commies under the bed. As for the accusation that some business interests are deliberately helping to cause inflation,or other sorts of economic problems, this is an old, old, tactic used by reactionaries to wreck any progressive government. Hell, it was even used against Canada's tepid social democrats!

beatroot said...

pagan
Most homemade bread, unless I am mistaken, requires eggs, as does cakes, etc., and a good many other recipes.


????????????????????????????

beakerkin said...

Ren

No I will stick with Trotskyite. The correct analogy is mafia clans
except that the mafia is well run in any comparison.

Beatroot

The exodus has started and the person who looks absurd is you. How does such a small country become the third largest source of H-1B visas? Your continued mental gymnastics in the face of a new Cuba will come back to haunt you.

The class genocide is on the way. We heard the same stories about Cuba. There is nothing Peronist about Chavez except his anti-semitism.

A fool who does not learn from history remains a fool.

Ren's goal is to repeat this around forty times and feign noble motives for each failure. You are merely an enabler and window dressing to the Koolaide pitchman.

The death will start, but it will be in the country side. Word will get out way after the deed was done like with the Miskito indians who Commies spit upon.

beakerkin said...

Ren

H1B visa holders are highly compensated and earn an average of 70,000. At the end of their stay their employer may file forms that place them on the path to citizenship.

It seems that earning 70k in the USA is better than having Hugo play GOD with your life and possesions. Obviously, you did not look too hard in your research. Keep looking India and China are 1 and 2. Guess who number 3 is?

beatroot said...

Could you show me some evidence of the planning of 'class genocide'. Even Chav sayin "we will exterminate the ruling class' will do. Or are they doing it, you know...(whisper) in secret.....?

Frank Partisan said...

Beatroot; Being precise isn't Beak's specialty.

Beak: Again with the strawman. Mafia? In the 1970s the ex-Trotskyist Socialist Workers Party (US) which was at that time maybe the biggest Trotskyist group, won a lawsuit against the FBI. because they couldn't show any illegal activity. You are so close to Ghouliani, you have a broom stuck up your ass.

Where did you get your numbers about H1B? I couldn't find numbers. A missionary told you?

Aaron A. said...

"Are any of you chicken collectivists ready to surrender your citizenship and live in the messes you advocate for others."

Hey beak good point. The National Guards numbers are down again, and the'll give me 2,000 dollars for each "lead" who joins.

Want to become part of the mess?

sonia said...

Very amusing. According to Oil Wars, there are empty shelves in Venezuela because consumption is greater than production.

Let's give this guy a Nobel Price in Economics!

It happens every day in every capitalist country, but it is immediately corrected by RAISING THE PRICES (which provide an incentive for producers to produce more) and the shelves remain full...

It's Economics 101.

But in Venezuela, prices are set by Chavez. There is no incentive to produce more, and the shelves are empty.

Price controls are the root of the problem, not consumption.

Daniel said...

Given a choice between eating an egg or a whole chicken guess which I'd choose?

Besides, if the bird was allowed to do some laying before it became someone's dinner then there would be a huge multiplier effect.

End of problem!

Frank Partisan said...

Sonia:

Oil Wars agrees with you. He is not a socialist.

You are correct in terms of capitalist logic.

Chavez and the poor in Venezuela, have enemies that are willing to sabotage the economy to bring down the government. Hoarding is done at the distribution level. Chavez has reduced some of the food price controls. Eventually he'll have to have a showdown

sonia said...

Chavez and the poor in Venezuela, have enemies that are willing to sabotage the economy to bring down the government. Hoarding is done at the distribution level.

That's pure paranoia. Food is not hoarded. There is no food to be hoarded.

It's Chavez and his insane policies that are destroying the economy. He is feeding people who are not working. If he will continue doing it, fewer and fewer people will be working.

Even Stalin wasn't that stupid. Under Stalin, everybody had to work. Or else. That's why Communism survived for so long. Chavism won't survive that long, unless Chavez changes his policies...

Frank Partisan said...

Sonia: Authorities have raided warehouses and confiscated tons of food _ mostly beef and sugar _ from vendors unwilling to sell inventories at the official price. Washington Post 02/07/2007

Chavez has given concessions to food vendors, as allowing approved price hikes. Price controls don't work, if you don't control the economy.

Chavez doesn't control the government or the economy.

He is in limbo as things are now. Eventually has to be a day of reckoning.

beakerkin said...

Ren

The numbers on H-1b are available but you didn't look. Just like you didn't look for the stories of the surge in Venezuelans leaving. Just like you don't look for stories about shotrages, barter, exponentially increased crime and so forth.

The game you play is each new communism will be the one that gets it right. As the repression
and death piles up you will feign altruistic motives.

Sadly even Hugo is not stupid enough to take you in exchange for the engineers, doctors, businessmen and farmers who are leaving in droves.

The Trotskyite bit is a mafia type of game. All the killings were dome by the Stalinist, Maoist families. Pol Pot isn't even a member of the mafia because he never earned a nickel. All you are is a member of another communist mafia clan just one that is less well run than the dominant ones.

The game goes as follows scream at the top of your lungs at any disparities in Capitalism. Form alliances with incoherent anarchists who can be counted on for comedy. Form alliances with genuine Nazis like LWB. Feed bug eyed deranged unstable henchman like John Brown red meat and then feign ignorance when he threatens to molest children.Lastly, present a clean cut well spoken cynic like Beatroot as window dressing aiding and abbeting imagined noble motives.

This is the same script from Cuba and the results speak for themselves. You are a souless hack and blaming you is like blamming a scorpion for being a scorpion.

liberal white boy said...

beakerkahane, the self-worshipping freak show strikes again.

Craig Bardo said...

Beak,

I am amazed by how easily manipulated people are when it comes to economics. But it is no surprise then that following the acceptance of collectivist notions like means of production, hoarding, sabotage and price controls, which is complete nonsense, how easy it is to murder those that were originally duped by marxist ponzi schemes.

Western civilizations are increasingly rearing generations of helpless, hapless adults who fall for anything if someone promises them a free lunch and a life free from conflict and confrontation. Some things must be confronted, whether its the in your face fascism of Islamists or the "trust me, I know what's best for you" leftists.

There is no free lunch and until we meet our maker, life is full of conflict, grow up and get over it.