Originally Posted by Webby

Life in the Land Where Filling Up An SUV Costs $3

CARACAS, VENEZUELA - Auto salesman Leonardo Caicedo looked over the shiny Jeep, Chrysler, and Dodge vehicles crowding the showroom in central Caracas, where a gallon of gasoline now costs about the same as a large hen's egg, and a liter costs less than a single photocopy.

The SUV sales are "excellent," he said, and customers don't worry about fuel efficiency, since they can fill their 18-gallon tanks for less than $3.

"Here, gasoline is cheaper than water," Felix Mancilla, who sells pirated CDs and DVDs, says happily. He uses his generator to run a television and speakers, which customers use to test his products. Running the generator all day long costs him only $2 per week.