That accusation is nothing new for President Nayib Bukele. It didn’t start when El Salvador was the murder capital of the world though. It started when Bukele intervened to try a solution.
A short term transgression of liberty for a few increased long term liberty for the many. It was a risky tradeoff. Once the results became undeniable, however, the criticism faded… until July 6th.
“To all importers, wholesalers, distributors and marketers:
Lower food prices or there will be problems.”
The full announcement made international news. Long time Bukele skeptics pounced immediately. Comparisons to infamous Latin American socialist dictators went viral online.
Even among Bitcoiners, many Bukele sympathizers struggled to defend him at first. It seemed like he was hinting at price controls. Students of Austrian Economics understand how that policy always backfires to instead cause shortages. And to make matters worse, Bukele’s rhetoric — threatening a similar approach to grocery chains as he took with the gangs — seemed like an alarming overreaction.
Was it a step toward central planning?
Fortunately, the next few days revealed the opposite long term vision.
First, it became clear that Bukele’s announcement was only reacting to an emergency context. An entrenched oligopoly was using storms as an excuse to make food, which they already had, unaffordable for many Salvadorans. The aggressive rhetoric fixed that within a day.
More importantly, however, Bukele also unveiled a viable long term solution. His government has already started facilitating more free market competition as an alternative to decentralize the food supply chain.
And that’s not all! Now the President is also submitting a proposal to suspend all tariffs on many different food products for a period of 10 years.
He never actually implemented price controls, but he did implement two free market long term solutions that bypass middlemen.
Peer-to-peer markets align perfectly with the ethos of peer-to-peer money. The real world is complicated, and implementation is rarely perfect, but the vision remains pure.
While “developed” countries continue moving the wrong way — Germany selling its Bitcoin, for example, and the Biden Administration discussing price controls for rent in the U.S. — El Salvador continues to move toward sound markets with sound money.
Don’t just take my word for it though. Don’t trust. Verify. Come see the results of free market growth for yourself on November 15th and 16th.
Guest contribution by @JeThoreau
