This just in from Venezuela, home to the world’s highest inflation. Price caps, typically imposed on essential products by the socialist government, now include a decidedly non-essential one. As the highlight of this year’s Operation Merry Christmas, President Nicolas Maduro has included price-capped Barbiedolls.
Surely, the irony isn’t lost on Caracas toy stores or shoppers. Under the late president Hugo Chavez, Maduro’s mentor, the Barbie doll was derided as a symbol of capitalist consumerism. But no, still no word on rumored, cut-rate G.I. Joes.