Well, there's a private sector in the sense that, if a supermarket wants to import some beef and sell it at market rates, they can do that. I wouldn't say the US food supply is a free market by any means, but if prices need to rise due to scarcity, they're allowed to.
Plus, the US produces most of it's own food, whereas I gather Venezuela is fairly reliant on imports. Creating unrealistic price ceilings in that climate means those goods will no longer be sold.
[–] B3bomber 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
Sounds like they had poor planning all around. Those people will suffer because of it while the wealthy run off with the loot.