'Venezuela poor host for Olympic basketball qualifying'

[Bacchus4.0]

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2012/07/03/353--Venezuela-poor-host-for-Olympic-basketball-qualifying-.html


Caracas, July 3 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia point guard Alexey Shved Tuesday slammed the choice of Venezuela as the venue for the Olympic basketball qualification tournament, saying the players are cooped up in their hotel because of the high crime rate.

Three Olympic places are on offer qualifying tournament in the Venezuelan capital Caracas, which contains 12 teams and runs through Sunday.

The military have been called in to protect players, as Caracas has one of the highest murder rates of any city in the world, fuelled by criminal gangs and widespread gun ownership.

"We can't go out of the hotel here, we're not allowed," Shved said when asked about the country's crime rate.

"Everything's unrealistically expensive, boring."

[naaman fletcher]

1. Expensive?

It's almost as if price controls actually lead to higher prices, rather than lower.

[Bacchus4.0]

2. fixed exchange rate, most overvalued currency

I assume another reason why Ven isn't a tourist destination. I was in Colombia in November and I noticed it was pricier than I remember but I imagine its still cheaper than Ven. I believe Peru and Ecuador in South America are the cheapest destinations excluding the non-Spanish speaking countries. I am not sure about Bolivia. Ecuador is very inexpensive.



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Big Mac index shows overvalued Venezuelan currency


The Big Mac index computed by The Economist showed that the Venezuelan bolivar is the most overvalued currency worldwide with respect to the US dollar, reflecting the imbalance of the Venezuelan economy.

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By contrasting the Venezuelan and the Russian currencies at the current exchange rate, a Big Mac Burger, which costs USD 4.33 in the US, costs USD 2.29 in Russia and USD 7.92 in Venezuela, which shows that the Venezuelan currency is overvalued.

According to the index, overvaluation of the Venezuelan currency stood at 83% by the end of July.

An overvalued currency implies that exports lose ground as goods manufactured in Venezuela are more expensive for the rest of the world. Meanwhile, imports continue growing as prices are low.

http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/120802/big-mac-index-shows-overvalued-venezuelan-currency