{"id":4175,"date":"2026-08-05T12:11:39","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4175"},"modified":"2026-08-05T12:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:11:39","slug":"mamdani-should-talk-to-cubans-about-bodegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4175","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani should talk to Cubans about bodegas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

As a little boy in Cuba, I remember walking with my mom to \u201cla bodega.\u201d As I recall, there was one down the street with a \u201ccigar & coffee\u201d corner for the fathers and lots of fresh fruits and seafood that my mother purchased.<\/p>

Read more What would a civil war with the Left look like?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEl bodeguero,\u201d or the owner, was usually a friendly guy who understood capitalism better than Milton Friedman and the old shopping principle that the \u201cmother is always right.\u201d In other words, everybody went home happy with their visit to \u201cla bodega.\u201d \u201cLa bodega\u201d was capitalism at its best, and it worked beautifully.<\/p>\n

This is why Mayor Mamdani should talk to the Cubans who live in New York City. Why? Because the Mayor doesn\u2019t know a thing about being a \u201cbodeguero.\u201d If he can\u2019t find a Cuban, talk to Cesar Baez:<\/p>\n

\n

When Venezuela\u2019s socialist president, Hugo Ch\u00e1vez, created a nationwide network of government-run grocery stores called \u201cMercal\u201d in 2003, he faced the same conundrum of how to control excess demand when prices are set artificially low.<\/p>\n

At first, Mercal seemed to work. It quickly became one of Ch\u00e1vez\u2019s most popular social programs. In a 2007 episode of his talk show, Al\u00f3 Presidente, Ch\u00e1vez compared Mercal\u2019s prices with those at a nearby grocery store. A kilo of sugar at Mercal cost 740 bol\u00edvares, compared with a price of 1,300 bol\u00edvares elsewhere. Chicken sold for 1,900 bol\u00edvares instead of 4,550. The discounts were roughly 43 percent to 62 percent below prices already regulated by the government. Ch\u00e1vez called Mercal an instrument for building \u201csocialist commerce.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than 70 percent of households reported buying at least one item at Mercal during the program\u2019s peak in popularity in 2005. But eventually artificially low prices led shoppers to clear out the shelves, and the stores became famous for lines that would wind around the block. The share of households shopping at Mercal plummeted below 40 percent by 2014.<\/p>

Read more The return of fiscal QE<\/a><\/p>\n

The gap between Mercal\u2019s subsidized prices and prices at other grocery stores created an obvious resale opportunity. There were complaints of diverted goods, fictitious purchases, store clerks allowing their friends and relatives to jump the line, and corruption in procurement and distribution. Hauling food across the border to resell at market prices in Colombia became a booming industry. Black-market reselling even spawned a new profession: bachaqueo.<\/p>\n

The government responded to the shortages with tighter controls. It capped purchases, assigned shoppers a weekday based on the final digit of their national ID number, and registered sales by ID and fingerprint. Some stores required shoppers to bring a baby or present a birth certificate before they could buy diapers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s exactly what happened in Cuba. First, you created a black market. Secondly, you had to show your \u201cration card\u201d to buy whatever you needed. In the end, it did not work.<\/p>\n

New Yorkers have one advantage over Cubans and Venezuelans. In other words, there will be private \u201cbodegas\u201d that they can walk to. Like Chavez or Castro, Mamdani will learn that he can\u2019t escape the laws of supply and demand. And I guarantee you that you will see food lines and shortages, another natural consequence of messing with the free market.<\/p>

Read more Photo celebrating Trump\u2019s death displayed at the Orange County (CA) Fair<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Image created using AI.<\/em><\/p>\n

P.S. Check out my blog for posts, podcasts, and videos.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a little boy in Cuba, I remember walking with my mom to \u201cla bodega.\u201d As I recall, there was one down the street with a \u201ccigar & coffee\u201d corner for the fathers and lots of fresh fruits and seafood that my mother purchased. Read more What would a civil war with the Left look […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,195],"tags":[1687],"class_list":["post-4175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","category-zohran-mamdani","tag-related-topics-zohran-mamdani-free-market-bodegas"],"yoast_head":"\nMamdani should talk to Cubans about bodegas - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=4175\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mamdani should talk to Cubans about bodegas - Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a little boy in Cuba, I remember walking with my mom to \u201cla bodega.\u201d As I recall, there was one down the street with a \u201ccigar & coffee\u201d corner for the fathers and lots of fresh fruits and seafood that my mother purchased. 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