Peru to intervene to weaken its currency

An interesting report in La Republica right here, with your author's translation of a couple of the key passages below:

Ministry of Economy Will Help Central Bank to Stop the Fall of the Dollar (in local currency) Using Restrictive Fiscal Policy Measures

Faced with the drastic fall in the greenback last week, Vice-Minister of Economy, Luis Miguel Castilla, announces that the return of dollar purchases will be evaluated.

After last Friday when the dollar registered its biggest drop against the Peruvian Sol (PEN) in 32 months to close at S/2.772 to the dollar, the Ministry of Economy and Finances (MEF) announced that it will help the Peru Central Bank (BCRP) to stop the local downward pressure on the US currency via a clear restrictiv fiscal policy.


Luis Miguel Castilla, Vice Minister of Economy, explained the the best help that the MEF could give the BCR to avoid excessive appreciation in the local currency and in turn the risk of economic overheating is with a countercyclical fiscal policy.


.......


Castilla noted that in 2010 the MEF bought dollars to help the BCR calm volatility in the Nuevo Sol and didn't rule out that these actions would be taken again, for which the MEF has been coordinating with the BCR to work on the best form of intervention.

James Turk, winner of this week's coveted award

Rod: This is what I'm gonna do for you: God bless you, Jerry. But this is what you gonna do for me, Jerry?

Jerry: Yeah, what can I do for you, Rod? You just tell me what can I do for you?

Rod: It's something very personal, a very important thing. Hell! It's a family motto. Are you ready Jerry? I wanna make sure you're ready, brother. Here it is: Show me the money. Show! Me! The! Money! Jerry, it is such a pleasure to say that! Say it with me one time, Jerry.

Jerry: Show you the money.

Rod: No, no. You can do better than that! I want you to say it brother with meaning! Hey, I got Bob Sugar on the other line I bet you he can say it!

Jerry: Yeah, yeah, no, no, no. Show you the money.

Rod: No! Not show you! Show me the money!

Jerry: Show me the money!

Rod: Yeah! Louder!

Jerry: Show me the money!

Rod: I need to feel you Jerry!

Jerry: Show me the money! Show me the money!

Rod: I love black people.

Jerry: I love black people!

Rod: Who's your motherfucker, Jerry?

Jerry: You're my motherfucker! Show me the money!

Rod: Uh! Congratulations, you're still my agent.

Jerry Maguire, 1996

I got sent this link today by reader PR, a new December 14th article by James Turk entitled "U.S. Dollar hyperinflation watch continues" and my heart sinks. knowing that some mash-up of words and phrases including "Weimar", "Zimbabwe", "fiat", "banana republic" and "destruction" is on the menu, but I click through anyway. However, I wasn't expecting a bare-face bullshit lie to hit me in the face in Turk's first sentence of his first paragraph:

"For several months I have been warning that hyperinflation of the U.S. dollar is looming."

Months? MONTHS??? Jeesh, what a charlatan this man is, he's been on about it for years!

Example one, March 28 2006 "The Fed and M3- Hiding the truth about inflation".

Example two, June 12 2007 "Controlling inflationary expectations"

Example three, April 28 2008 "Inflation fears and food shortages"

Example three, May 26 2008 (that goes straight for the jugular) "Weimar inflation in America"

I could go on and on all day, there are so many examples. So come on James, show me the inflation...SHOW ME!

The man is wrong. Get it? Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Not only that but today he showed himself to be a plain straight morally bankrupt liar. Months? I can't get over the chutzpah.....

There are sound reasons to own gold, but Turk doesn't have a freakin' clue about what they are and that's obvious. He's nothing more than yet another dumbass gringo that doesn't have the first inkling about what hyperinflation is...but it sure is a cool word to stick in your polemic, isn't it?  His relentless pounding on irrational and 100% wrong fear fear fear! and we're all gonna die just to sell his goldmoney product is  vomitworthy. So do us all a favour Turk, stick your seventeen-times-failed Mises-based claptrap where the sun doesn't shine and

Brazil showing signs of (its traditional) inflation

Brazil's Consumber Price Inflation (CPI) number came out the end of last week and for November 2010 the reading was +0.83%, which added to the annual figure now standing at 5.63%. MercoPress (a news agency that's getting bigger and better these days...watch out Reuters) has the English language rundown on the issue, noting that November's monthly number was the "highest monthly level in five years".

So, is this a problem brewing for Brazil? Well, let's start with some context and a monthly CPI chart that goes back to January 2007, courtesy of the official Brazil beancounters IBGE:

So the 0.83% number is the "highest in five years", but it's also one of seven months since 2007 that has seen a spike. Those spikes tend to come in pairs, too. Next up, 5.63% may sound a lot (or it may not if you live in Caracas) but in Brazilian terms it's pretty low. what's more important is that Brazilians, the population at large, know how to handle price inflation as it's an issue they've lived with for a long time. For example, 5.63% annual fades into nothingness compared to the average of 30% inflation a month that Brazil suffered in 1993 (to pick just one hyperinflation year out the bag).

So inflation in Brazil isn't an issue...yet. When Dilma Rousseff kicks off her Presidency on Jan 1st 2011 it may become a worry or it may not, but your author would want to see three or four consecutive months over 0.8% before changing his mind.

Bolivia inflation: Baaaack?

In 2008 and 2009 the Bolivia of Evo Morales fought the good fight and did what very few governments there had been able to do before them; Thanks to sound macro policy (and deflation in the world's major economies) Bolivia managed to get its consumer price inflation under control.

No mean achievement, but all of a sudden there are signs that inflation is back and eating away at people's pockets. Today's announcement of August CPI at 1.06% is not a good thing and puts the 12 month trailing rate for CPI (what we normally understand as "the inflation rate") at 2.6%.

But the real problem isn't that headline 2.6%, rather the recent spike that's baking inflation into the cake for the next 12 months. This chart shows the monthly breakdown and we see how the last three months have added most of the inflationary burden onto the 12 month trailer.

June, July and August combine to give 1.82% of inflation and that 1.82% will show on the annual numbers all the way through next year. As August 2009 notes, there is a tendency for a higher price spike in that month (this year the goverment blamed much of the 1.06% on rises in the price of potatoes and chicken, which is not much of a surprise during the Andean winter) so we'll wait to see what September brings before shilling "we're all gonna die!" at you. But inflation is rearing its ugly head once again in Bolivia and if Morales&Co wants to keep its good economic record intact they'd be wise to tackle the issue immediately. 

DYODD.

Chile's econostats: Is that the smell of male bovine waste material in the air?

So on drudging through the stats department of the Chilean Central Bank website this morning...y'know....just like any normal and well-adjusted person on a Monday morning...it suddenly occurred to this humble scribe that Chile must be some sort of laboral Nirvana, a Panacea of hope set aside from the normal abusive labour practices and gouging companies only interested in their bottom lines more common in this continent.

Why so? Well take a look at this chart that compares country inflation (the consumer type) and the indexed average salaries paid to the workforce. The only adjustment made is mathematical (and easy), as one set of figures is indexed at 100 to 2006 and the other to 2008, so a quick adjustment brings them both to the same starting point.

What we see is that salaries have increased over this period at a pretty regular rate, but the main benefit came in 2009 onwards when, thanks to that deflationary impulse from abroad, inflation levels dropped and things got cheaper (or didn't get any more expensive at least), while salaries apparently kept on rising. The result? More buying power in the hands of the average Joe Chileno and the world is a beautiful place.

But then I got to thinking why that should be, especially cos of this:

Because Chile didn't escape from the effects of the Lehman/Subprime plunge, as the unemployment numbers clearly show. So hey wow!! Chile must be a special place right? It's the wonderful exception where unemployment rises sharply but bosses are still willing to pay extra to the people that are still employed.

Or maybe...just perhapsy...the Chile CenBank is statistically full of shit. YOU BE THE JUDGE!

Chart of the day is....

.......Mexico's Consumer Price Inflation (CPI), 2000 to 2010 measured monthly and indexed to 100 as at June 2002.

I was laying there in bed last night, wondering why you never seem to hear Mexicans complaining about inflation any longer. I mean, I remember all the Tequila episode and the fallout and everything else. So this morning I toddled off to the Mexico Cenbank site and found this dataset (in chart form here).

The answer seems to be that for sure there is some inflation in Mexico, but for one thing it's at moderate level and for another (and I'm guessing the most important), it's regular. That line just steadily moves up, doesn't make jolts to the upside or downside, holds no surprises for the people that it affects. It works like Prozac.

Venezuelan inflation

The first chart below shows the general level of inflation (black line, indexed to December 2007) and the individual components of the inflation index that have risen more than the average.


Now this second chart also shows the general level of inflation (black line, indexed to December 2007) and the individual components of the inflation index that have risen less than the average.
Also, it's worth pointing out here that salaries in Venezuela have risen to 164.5 if we take the same December 2007 month as our starting point and also give it a score of 100 (this includes the recent 10% rise in salaries for 2010, the only data not found in the Cenbank archives).

The upshot is that Venezuela is definitely more expensive to live if you enjoy alcohol and tobacco, if you eat in restaurants a lot and if you use "other services" (usually the non-essentials) a lot. Food is more expensive for everyone on an average scale, but clothes, cellphones and the utilities have dropped compared to salary buying power. All data from the Venezuelan Central Bank.

Oh Noes! Venezuelan inflation and the end of the world

Yup Venezuela has inflation all right, product of its funky monetary policy that really confuses the hell out of some people. But check out this chart, that shows the Venezuelan inflation rate (precisely, the CPI consumer price index) over the last five-and-a-bit years, but this time compared to the average increases in salaries (the general salary index, comprised of national public and private sectors) for the same periods.

What do we see? Basically, pay increases have kept up with inflation. 2008 was a bad year for the wage packets versus the shop prices, but this year things look more equal again. In fact, if you tot up the scores salaries have outstripped inflation by 1.3% over the extended period.

Ever noticed how the English media will tell you all about Venezuela's inflation rate but never tell you about the matching increases in salaries? Funny dat, innit?

Venezuela parallel exchange rate update

Here's the longview chart of the Bolivar Fuerte (VEF) in the parallel "permuta" market....


......and here's the story since Jan 1st 2009.

click to enlarge

Yesterday Bloomberg picked up on the rumour swirling around that Chávez&Co is about to run a dollar bonds issuance. Bloomie reported a strengthening of the parallel VEF but I don't see much more than a slight stopping of the rot. Not surprising really, as the rumoured U$1Bn or $2Bn issuance won't soak up much of the excess liquidity floating round the VEF. Check out the evolution of M2 to see what I mean....

.....because this chart documents M2 having risen 32.5% since this time last year. Want a lesson in Monetary Inflation 101? Well, as mentioned before it's no coincidence that Venezuela's CPI inflation rate is fluctuating around 30% right now. This ain't rocket science, dudes.

So the upshot is that although oil is back at $70+ and the rrrrrrevolution is back on track funds-wise, the VEF currency has a long way to go to get itself repaired. My finger-in-the-air thinks that we'd need crude at $100/bbl again before the VEF parallel goes under 5.0 to the greenback.

The inflation menace on weak-currency LatAm: a practical example

Here's the chart of the Argentine Peso (ARS) over the past three months (basically 2009):

We can see the near 10% devaluation versus the greenback in this period. This is good for exports, of course......errrr...except that nobody is buying anything. This makes imports more expensive, but that's not a real problem because....errrrr...nobody is buying anything. Hopefully both those situations will change, as LatAm as a block is a net exporter and therefore a net gainer from a recharged world.

But for dollar demoninated goods (eg world traded commodities) it means that locals will have to pay more for more inelastic demand goods things like wheat, porkbellies and fuel, even if they're produced at home base. As our topical example, Critica today reports that fuel prices in Argentina have risen by up to 5.5% due to the softening of the local currency against the greenback.

The problem is not limited to just fuel and just Argentina, of course. With most of the regional currencies having suffered recently versus Uncle Buck, the phenomena of monetary inflation is starting to arrive on the shores of the continent. This is not something to ignore in the months ahead because the last thing a collection of emerging markets needs is a nasty dose of stagflation.

Venezuelan money supply may be signalling accelerated inflation

This one is slightly wonkier than usual because I'm missing out some theory explanations behind the facts offered (feel free to ask questions if something isn't so clear). However it's hardly Krugman-like and I'm not even worthy to polish the dude's boots, so there's the context.

Here's a chart of Venezuela's M2 money supply (the calculation that measures the amount of national currency in circulation) as registered over the past 12 months.


The move from around the 70 billion Bolivares Fuertes (VEF) level to the present VEF89.07Bn means that M2 has moved up by around than 30% in a year...that's a big jump in any currency (that doesn't have Mugabe ruling its destiny). It also comes as no surprise to econ-wonks to note the way the 30% in M2 growth neatly matches the 30% or so annual inflation rate Venezuela is currently running (making percentage-point assumptions in either direction, so no corrective mails necessary, thanks in advance).

But the thing that's caught my eye is the final uptick move on the right-hand side of that chart. In the week ended Feb 27th, M2 moved up 1.68% (from U$87.6Bn to U$89.07Bn); not only is that a large move in just one week, but it's also atypical for the 'normal pattern' (if such a thing exists) for Venezuela. Over the last three years, M2 has held steady in Venezuela for roughly the first six months of the year, only accelerating when other methods of mopping up excess liquidity have been used up, chief among those being dollar bond emissions (check this Feb '09 post for further details). However, chances are that this year there will be no new dollar bonds coming from the Venezuelan government , mainly due to the lower oil price and ensuing lower revenues at PdVSA.

It remains to be seen whether the weekly uptick at end February is repeated throughout March, but it's certainly one to watch. I for one would definitely not like to see M2 breach the U$90Bn level in the next couple of weeks. Add the fact that last week the Venezuelan government dropped its base interest rate from 13% to 11% and more upwards pressure on money supply is likely. The bottom line is that if the pattern is confirmed and M2 keeps rising quickly at this relatively early time of year, inflation in Venezuela is likely to accelerate even while world prices are dropping. That's not good, people. Not good at all.

South American humour roundup

why so serious?

Joke one is from Ecuador, where FinMin Viteri yesterday announced that the 2015 Global bonds weren't under default after all and paid the necessary coupon. GPB at MktMemo sums it up nicely when writing "Don't expect bondholders to be as lenient with Ecuador as they were with Argentina a few years ago"

Joke two is from Argentina, as yesterday the Klishtina government had the brass neck to announce that Argentina's 2008 inflation came in at 7.2%. Triple that number and you're getting closer, according to anyone with a functioning brain that knows the country.

Joke three is from Venezuela, as Crystallex shareholders still believe their company has a future in the country's gold mining sector. Wrongo! The only future in store for KRY is centred on bankruptcy and civil litigation courtrooms.

Chile, interest rates, inflation, Bachelet and the central bank

Bachelet proves she can maintain her composure and smile
even in the most difficult of circumstances

President Bachelet gave a very interesting interview to Chile's Radio Cooperativo on Wednesday. Part of the show was devoted to the question of interest rates, as the analytical world and their spouses all say that Chile's central bank is about to cut the rate by 0.5% (it's currently at 8.25%) in order to stimulate growth (or so the theory goes). Anyhow, here are a few direct quotes from Bachelet in that interview after being subjected to the OttoTrans™:

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"Inflation is in full retreat and I understand that this will be a criteria that the Central Bank is going to evaluate when defining its interest rates policy.....this is what I hope for, although I am respectful of the Central Bank's autonomy, but I believe that the numbers we're seeing augur well for some good decisions."

"The only good news at the moment, from the point of view of economic future is that expectations and estimates of the experts say we are going to end 2009, some say, with inflation at 2.6%. We ended ths year (2008) at 7.5%."

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It's not just Chile, of course. The whole region is now benefitting from the drop in prices (just check the Peru PPI figure in yesterday's chart, for one example). The countries of South America are net commodity exporters thus the drop in world commods prices is a net negative. However there is most definitely a silver lining to the cloud, and that silver lining is the easing of inflationary pressures.

So as growth was the strong point pumped by every regional government in 2005 to 2008 ("Growth!! Growth!! Look at how we're growing and don't worry about the inflation number, it's not that important anyway...now vote for me, suckaz") so the inflation rates regionwide will be the Presidential talking point of 2009 ("We have the important inflation figure under control. don't worry about growth, that will come back quickly enough because I'm wonderful and smart and have controlled inflation...now vote for me, suckaz").

In the words of Kurt Vonnegut, "So it goes.".

Peru's 2008 inflation figures are in....

The PPI dropped in December. CPI didn't.

...and as reported by Reuters this afternoon, the headline Lima+Metropolitan district Consumer Price Index (CPI) finished at 6.65% for 2008, a country mile away from the Central Bank's 1% to 3% inflation target, a whole street away from FinMin Luismi's BS of just a couple of months ago and all this doesn't even include the basic facts that

a) this figure for Lima+Metro is not at all representative of the country as a whole because Lima has one of the lowest inflation rates in all Peru
b) the stats are crooked against reporting reality anyhow.

2008 was the year when food prices shot up and stayed high, allowing everyone except the end user to cash in. This was the year that finished seeing Peruvians end up paying double that of US citizens for a gallon of fuel. This was the year that chicken moved from S/5 per kilo to S/8 per kilo, and rice from S/1.80 per kilo to S/3.20 per kilo but has a gov't that insisted all was well because gas prices fell by 1.5%, beer got cheaper and you could get yourself an iPhone on a plan. It's a great time to be rich in Twobreakfasts' free market paradise, but it truly sucks for the vast majority.

The only two stats that really matter about Peru:

Percentage of population that lives on U$2 or less per day: 40%
Approval rating of its President: 20%

The rest is noise.

More luck than judgment

When you listen carefully to what LatAm politicos say, sometimes you notice how they inadvertently tell the truth. Today's example is Luis Valdivieso, FinMin of Peru and overpromted IMF-trained mediocrity. This is the same dude that took over the job earlier in the year promising inflation as under control, would be 5.5% at the end of the year (bigtime miss, Luismi) and that Peru would grow 9% in 2009 (errrr...revised down recently, dumbass?).

But the lapse into truth came at yesterday's presser when Valdivieso said (courtesy of OttoTrans™);

"...We are very lucky because the price of imported food is dropping..."

Y'see, these people can plan is prognosticate and pontificate until the cows come home, because the actual effect they have on their economies is between slight and none at all. Peru didn't suddenly grow in the last five years because of a newly found sanity in fiscal management; it grew because the world market decided it would pay more for copper, gold, silver and all their friends. Period.

And the locals kept on telling their citizens how they'd control inflation, but it's taken the onset of a global recession (no less) to curb the price rises felt by Peruvians (most of whom haven't seen a penny of the much vaunted GDP growth hit their own pockets). And note the spin; the world grows, and that's good for Peru. The world stops growing.... yessiree, that's good for Peru, too! Jam tomorrow, anyone?

It's all total BS...pure smoke'n'mirrors from all of them, not just Peru. Once they get past the basics of "build up reserves, tax the hell out of the little guy and leave the rich guys alone" they are then in the lap of the global gods when it comes to the long term health of their nations. It matters not the hue of governmental politics, either. If commods prices stay low, the following South American countries are in the caca:

All of them.

Charts of the day are...........

.....Colombian inflation, both monthly since 2007 and 15 years by year.

There are clear signs that the high inflation burden suffered by Colombia this year is easing off. However the country has to get through its traditional price hike period of January and February before we know that for sure.

Taken on a long term basis, Colombia is a country that knows what inflation is by learning the hard way. That usually means they know how to handle it. Frankly, the price drops in the pipeline are going to come as a shock to the nation. Not such a bad time to be a retailer, I'd venture, as sales will likely drop but margins loom set to increase (something countries not used to the phenomenon seldom catch). Might suck to be a coffee exporter, though.

Peru inflation update; Valdivieso already failing

The good news: At 0.31%, the November 2008 number is the lowest monthly increase in inflation since April.

The bad news: Peru's FinMin Valdivieso needs to see a virtual miracle negative 0.47% rate for December 2008, else see his own 5.8% inflation forecast made just three months ago get shot down in flames. A three month forecast from Peru's guiding light missing by a mile, and we're supposed to take these clowns seriously? What's more, remember that the 6.27% inflation figure for the first 11 months of 2008 is only for the Lima+Metro region, and that Lima+Metro has one of the lowest inflation rates in all of Peru. Check Jurgen Schuldt's blog for more details of the provincial breakdown and how inflation is nigh on double in some regions.

However, the PPI number is a little more optimistic, with a 0.13% drop being registered in November. The main beneficiaries of this have been miners and builders, with significant drops in fuels, steel and mining supplies registered (e.g. sulphuric acid has dropped from $480/MT to $150/MT and all of a sudden you don't have to pay double and still wait two month for a drilling crew). All these PPI savings are welcome for miners that have seen prices for their prodcue slashed and burned, of course, but aren't likely to make their way into the pockets of José Publico. He'll have to settle for a S/2 drop (U$0.67) for a month's worth of household gas supply. Like....errr....wow.

The Peru Inflation update

October in Peru came in at 0.61% CPI....

.....which means the Central Bank's "readjusted forecast" (i.e. we really screwed up by saying 1% to 3%, so we 're going again with 5.6% to 5.7%) is already being left behind by inflation that just won't stop. This time the INEI is blaming the electricity and water price increases. If that sounds familiar to the regular IKN readers, that's because your prescient Otto said it was going to feed inflation into the system way back in August.

So YoY figures for Lima + Metro is 5.94% (and as Jurgen Schuldt smartly pointed out in this chart, the vast majority of Peru has worse figures than that). It's shaping up to get over 6.5% by the end of the year, and with food price inflation now at over 10% it's the poor sector of Peru that will end up suffering the most. The more that things change, eh...........

Peru's Inflation comes in above expectations...again

Another blow to the image of Alan's perfect 'investment grade' Peru. In the words of local analyst Roberto Flores (quoted by Reuters here) "Even though the effect of the rise in fuel tariffs was going to add to inflation, such a rise wasn't expected......Inflationary expectations are still relatively high, despite food prices showing a slight downward tendency in the international markets."

Or to quote Otto, "This like totally sucks, dude." The 6.22% trailing yearly inflation might not sound much to you, but the bias towards price rises on foodstuffs (9.48%) and now the latest round of price rises in public transport is hurting the lower socioeconomic strata much more than the people who write the column inches in newspapers and try to convince the world that things really aren't that bad.

And Ooops! A quick lesson in Economics 101 for Jorge MiniMe Del Castillo; Just this morning he was exhorting Peru to eat more fish and potatoes and telling us how the switch from chicken to fish was saving 'las caseras' money. Result? Fish went up 2.07% in just one month (more than January to August combined) and potatoes/tubers up 9%. Jeesh what a dickhead that guy is, seriously.

Also, take note of that wholesale price index; you telling me there isn't bottled up inflation waiting for the retail number in the months to come? Finally, check back at October and November 2007, because between them they added just 0.42% to last year's total. And PPK said that Peruvian inflation would be at an annualized 3% by January...what the hell was he smoking?

Alan García = 19% approval rating. Nuff said.

Peru: Don't let them eat cake (the flour's imported)

Jorge Del Castillo and Peru's Agro Minister Ismael Benavidez caught
on camera wearing their masonic aprons.

All great fashions start out by being ridiculed (e.g. flared jeans, Tamagochis, the hula-hoop, sitting on the roof of a train in the Indian sub-continent...you name your own fave). This year's crazy craze goes by the name of "Nationalization", and was kicked off last year by a little known local politico named Hugo Chávez, who nationalized CANTV, the Venezuelan phone company. Since then this nationalization fad has turned into flavour of the month and talk of the town, with Bolivia snapping up its gas prodcution, Argentina taking over (better said 'back') its national airline, the UK feasting on a couple of savings&loans thingies and the USA nationalizing everything to do with money (though it has to be said, circumstances up North are somewhat different....I mean, the nationalizations down this way have actually added value to the states in question).

So not to be outdone, Peru has joined in on the act. In a big hoopla presentation today, Prime Minister Jorge "mini me" Del Castillo along with a bunch of his ministers launched its latest attempt at Communism called "Take Advantage, Eat That Which Peru Produces" (Aprovecha: consume lo que el Perú produce).

Mini-Me said "We have to Nationalize our food, and because of this army barracks, hospitals and prisons will use local produce of the finest quality to bring down costs." He then went on to moan about the fact that Peruvians eat more imported goods than locally grown potatoes (for example), and then immediately contradicted himself by saying that Peruvians had changed habits and were eating more fish than chicken nowadays, which brought the price of a kilo of chicken down from S/7.40 to S/5.50. This is of course total bollocks, because chicken prices came down once the imported chicken feed came down after the much headlined surge in food prices was over (funny...you don't hear people talking about that much nowadays but inflation is still on the up'n'up...I wonder why...not) and had nothing to do with any sudden fervour Peruvians developed for horse-mackerel.

So I's got me an idea; why not stop planting all that asparagus for export to the USA (cos by the sounds of things, WalMart shoppers just won't be able to stretch to it soon), and use the same areas to plant something radical...like wheat, or soya or more rice? Then Mini-Me can stop imposing his ridiculous logic on his fellow citizens and let them bake a cake or two, just like they could when they were poor.