You know your economy is in trouble when ....

you are involved in "bread wars"! Kenneth Rapoza writes at the Forbes website,

Venezuela police arrested four bakers cited for making "illegal brownies and other pastries" on Friday. President Nicolas Maduro is threatening to take over bakeries in Caracas as part of a new "bread war", Reuters reported today. Maduro has sent in food inspectors and actual armed soldiers into more than 700 bakeries to enforce a rule that 90% of wheat must be destined to making bread and not pastries. Bienvenidos a la Unión Soviética!

When the government starts cracking down on bakeries, claiming they are consuming too much wheat, you just know the economy is in bad, bad shape. Having the government, rather than the market, determine how much wheat is used for making what is a sure sign the economy is on a downwards trajectory. There is just no way the government has the knowledge of time and place needed to be able to micromanage in this way.