Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Zohran Mamdani wants government-run grocery stores in New York. This not only seems like an attempt to "solve" a problem that doesn't actually exist, since there are already over 6,000 grocery stores and around 13,000 bodegas throughout NYC... it's also a "solution" that has already been tried in socialist and communist countries around the world with disastrous results.
At some point, maybe we should *learn* from the mistakes of the past, rather than just repeating them over and over again.
________________________
CREDITS:
Produced and Edited by Sean W. Malone
Directed by Seamus Coughlin
Written by Friday
Voiced by Seamus Coughlin & Britta
Animated by Emily
Backgrounds by Trev
Full-screen Graphics by Ricky Tee
________________________
LINKS:
-- Economics of State-Run Stores --
mises.org/library/socialism-economic-and-sociological-analysis
fee.org/articles/new-york-may-get-government-owned-grocery-stores
fee.org/articles/the-soviet-union-began-as-a-democratic-experiment-in-socialism
fee.org/articles/the-economic-cost-of-cuban-socialism
fee.org/articles/cuba-implements-food-rationing-as-its-economy-enters-crisis-mode
fee.org/articles/listen-to-immigrants-whove-actually-lived-under-socialism
-- Grocery Store Margins --
pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-much-do-supermarkets-make
grocerydive.com/news/grocery-industry-profit-margins-fall-to-pre-pandemic-levels-fmi/720517
rivernewsonline.com/news/2024/oct/15/food-costs-up-but-grocery-profit-margins-down
csimarket.com/Industry/industry_Profitability_Ratios.php?ind=1305
fullratio.com/profit-margin-by-industry
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_margin (look under “Retail (Grocery and Food)”)
supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/consumers-still-think-grocery-stores-earn-over-30-net-profit
-- Food Shortages in the Soviet Union (Alec Nove) --
taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780203156216-11/soviet-economy-problems-prospects-alec-nove
scribd.com/document/588643216/Alec-Nove-The-Soviet-Economic-System-1987-Unwin-Hyman
investopedia.com/ask/answers/050615/how-did-soviet-economic-system-affect-consumer-goods.asp
-- Venezuela’s Experience -
https://www.brookings.edu/research/venezuelas-economic-collapse-explained
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FP_20181023_venezuela.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/made-by-maduro-the-humanitarian-crisis-in-venezuela-and-us-policy-responses
economicsobservatory.com/why-did-venezuelas-economy-collapse
-- Cuba’s Rationing System --
cfr.org/backgrounder/cubas-food-rationing-system
Zohran Mamdani wants government-run grocery stores in New York. This not only seems like an attempt to "solve" a problem that doesn't actually exist, since there are already over 6,000 grocery stores and around 13,000 bodegas throughout NYC... it's also a "solution" that has already been tried in socialist and communist countries around the world with disastrous results.
At some point, maybe we should *learn* from the mistakes of the past, rather than just repeating them over and over again.
________________________
CREDITS:
Produced and Edited by Sean W. Malone
Directed by Seamus Coughlin
Written by Friday
Voiced by Seamus Coughlin & Britta
Animated by Emily
Backgrounds by Trev
Full-screen Graphics by Ricky Tee
________________________
LINKS:
-- Economics of State-Run Stores --
mises.org/library/socialism-economic-and-sociological-analysis
fee.org/articles/new-york-may-get-government-owned-grocery-stores
fee.org/articles/the-soviet-union-began-as-a-democratic-experiment-in-socialism
fee.org/articles/the-economic-cost-of-cuban-socialism
fee.org/articles/cuba-implements-food-rationing-as-its-economy-enters-crisis-mode
fee.org/articles/listen-to-immigrants-whove-actually-lived-under-socialism
-- Grocery Store Margins --
pos.toasttab.com/blog/on-the-line/how-much-do-supermarkets-make
grocerydive.com/news/grocery-industry-profit-margins-fall-to-pre-pandemic-levels-fmi/720517
rivernewsonline.com/news/2024/oct/15/food-costs-up-but-grocery-profit-margins-down
csimarket.com/Industry/industry_Profitability_Ratios.php?ind=1305
fullratio.com/profit-margin-by-industry
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Profit_margin (look under “Retail (Grocery and Food)”)
supermarketnews.com/consumer-trends/consumers-still-think-grocery-stores-earn-over-30-net-profit
-- Food Shortages in the Soviet Union (Alec Nove) --
taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9780203156216-11/soviet-economy-problems-prospects-alec-nove
scribd.com/document/588643216/Alec-Nove-The-Soviet-Economic-System-1987-Unwin-Hyman
investopedia.com/ask/answers/050615/how-did-soviet-economic-system-affect-consumer-goods.asp
-- Venezuela’s Experience -
https://www.brookings.edu/research/venezuelas-economic-collapse-explained
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/FP_20181023_venezuela.pdf
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/made-by-maduro-the-humanitarian-crisis-in-venezuela-and-us-policy-responses
economicsobservatory.com/why-did-venezuelas-economy-collapse
-- Cuba’s Rationing System --
cfr.org/backgrounder/cubas-food-rationing-system
