Expats don't stockpile<\/p>\n
I got a call from my wife who was in Makro, saying everybody
\nwas buying up everything -- rice, sugar, cooking oil and milk.
\nCheckout lines were so long that people were kept waiting one
\nhour. She asked me what she should do. \"Nothing,\" I said. \"What
\nif we run out of food?\" I explained that it was irrational, that
\nwe can't act with foodstuffs the same irrational way the market
\nreacted to the dollar. \"We can eat rambutan from the trees in our
\ncompound,\" I joked.<\/p>\n
Besides, the majority of the population does not have cash
\nready to stockpile. Every developing country's emerging middle
\nclass is insecure, I told her. This is only a small fraction of
\nthe population making a run on stores.<\/p>\n
We had eight years in Africa and faced monthly inflation of 50
\npercent, not to mention that in 1989 the government froze all our
\nmoney. We can't run just because someone started a rumor. What if
\nall the newcomers around here see me with a gallon of oil under
\nmy arm? These people, who came from one of those theme parks in
\nEurope or North America, are going to start. Last Monday shelves
\nbegan to be refilled. In Brazil, after the new year, shops have
\nsales to reduce their inventory. Here, people spread rumors to
\nempty the warehouses.<\/p>\n
OSVALDO COELHO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/expats-dont-stockpile-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }