A lot of my year so far has been taken up with inflation, its a problem here in Lebanon as the Dollar devalues and the cost of imported goods rises. Employees are complaining about the cost of living and owners complaining about the cost of employees. My wife has been complaining about the inflation around my waist but only exercise will fix that.
It seems that inflation is having a big impact on the Lebanese people’s ability to fight the good fight. You see in order to fight among each other in what is known as a civil war you need guns and guns aplenty. You need one group to have guns to attack and another group to have guns to defend. In Lebanon there are usually twenty groups, some attacking some defending and some just watching. They switch sides to stop monotony setting in. All in All a lot of guns are needed.
As anyone that studies economics will know as demand increases prices will tend to rise unless supply can also be increased( In Lebanons case supply of weapons is falling behind, bloody Iraqi border controls are improving.) , add to that inflation and we have ourselves a rapidly increasing cost.
According to local sources the cost of a Kalashnikov has risen from $ 100/150 a year ago to $ 1,000 today while a sniper rifle ( You know about the love of Snipers here) has risen from $ 800 to $ 2700. These are big increases and Gun dealers are not only making a killing (sorry) but also finding it difficult to keep up with demand.
Some families are now introducing new weapons to their arsenals while others are resorting to teaching the younger members how to use “the old family Kalashnikov.” .
Full details on the price rise and weapon availability can be found here and on LBC TV.
This week also seen an upping of the travel warnings form a number of Embassies, The Kuwait Embassy advised against all travel after they received a rocket attack warning. MacDara aslo received an e-mail form the Irish embassy in Cairo
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