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I was struck by one anecdote in the article, relating to Zimbabwe’s internet shutdown in the midst of a banknote shortage, which left many Zimbabweans unable to

by qubex 7y ago

I was struck by one anecdote in the article, relating to Zimbabwe’s internet shutdown in the midst of a banknote shortage, which left many Zimbabweans unable to use the internet-based cash-analogue they habitually used in lieu of cash, and how this caused one businessman to “throw away half of his perishable goods”. WTF? Sell them on a “credit basis”! At worst you get nothing (which is equivalent to throwing them away, monetarily, with the added advantage that you actually are helping keep people fed) and in the best case leads to people settling their debt once the crisis has passed.

BrentOzar 7y ago
> Sell them on a “credit basis”! In cultures where cash is king, broke people don't go to the store. They're not used to the store offering them credit.
- freddie_mercury 7y ago
  I live in a developing country where cash is king. In my experience in cash cultures, stores offering credit is extremely common. Your sweeping generalization is not just wrong but unnecessary. We're talking specifically about Zimbabwe, so all that matters is what is common in Zimbabwe and not what other countries do or do not do.
  - mcny 7y ago
    > Your sweeping generalization is not just wrong but unnecessary. We're talking specifically about Zimbabwe, so all that matters is what is common in Zimbabwe and not what other countries do or do not do. I wouldn't be so hard on the grandparent. Cunningham's Law states "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." My understanding is that stores do not offer credit to whoever just shows up. You need to build credibility or at least knows someone who knows the store keep. I imagine if I were a shopkeeper and I had a choice between selling on credit to random people vs throwing something away, I'd probably throw it away or if I sold it, I'd want to mark it as money I won't get. I don't know why some random person would come back to me to repay me. Not that I know anything about Zimbabwe (my only interaction is with people who fled the country so I acknowledge my perspective is probably biased hence I won't try to make further sweeping generalizations about the government there).
    - qubex 7y ago
      Surely most of the people suddenly not having money would be habitual store clients (otherwise we’d need to understand why suddenly the store owner ordered twice as much produce as he usually does). So it makes sense that he would know them and presumably trust them. I summarise that embarrassed clients probably just stopped showing up.
    - cruano 7y ago
      I think this is more like a small store owned by one of your neighbors so how they do it is that they give everyone credit and just black-list all of those who don't pay Since it's mostly cheaper items I think they can afford to do it that way and there are many people that go to this stores on a daily basis so it shouldn't cause much trouble to do it

by qubex 7y ago

BrentOzar 7y ago

> Sell them on a “credit basis”! In cultures where cash is king, broke people don't go to the store. They're not used to the store offering them credit.

freddie_mercury 7y ago
I live in a developing country where cash is king. In my experience in cash cultures, stores offering credit is extremely common. Your sweeping generalization is not just wrong but unnecessary. We're talking specifically about Zimbabwe, so all that matters is what is common in Zimbabwe and not what other countries do or do not do.
- mcny 7y ago
  > Your sweeping generalization is not just wrong but unnecessary. We're talking specifically about Zimbabwe, so all that matters is what is common in Zimbabwe and not what other countries do or do not do. I wouldn't be so hard on the grandparent. Cunningham's Law states "the best way to get the right answer on the internet is not to ask a question; it's to post the wrong answer." My understanding is that stores do not offer credit to whoever just shows up. You need to build credibility or at least knows someone who knows the store keep. I imagine if I were a shopkeeper and I had a choice between selling on credit to random people vs throwing something away, I'd probably throw it away or if I sold it, I'd want to mark it as money I won't get. I don't know why some random person would come back to me to repay me. Not that I know anything about Zimbabwe (my only interaction is with people who fled the country so I acknowledge my perspective is probably biased hence I won't try to make further sweeping generalizations about the government there).
  - qubex 7y ago
    Surely most of the people suddenly not having money would be habitual store clients (otherwise we’d need to understand why suddenly the store owner ordered twice as much produce as he usually does). So it makes sense that he would know them and presumably trust them. I summarise that embarrassed clients probably just stopped showing up.
  - cruano 7y ago
    I think this is more like a small store owned by one of your neighbors so how they do it is that they give everyone credit and just black-list all of those who don't pay Since it's mostly cheaper items I think they can afford to do it that way and there are many people that go to this stores on a daily basis so it shouldn't cause much trouble to do it