Christine Folch

(word of the day: estafa, which means "scam"... also, you can use it as a verb, estafar)

Lest it seem that, in the global turmoil of international Ponzi schemes collapsing, Paraguay should alone have nothing of Madoff or quesitos mágicos, here we are with the estafa of today: Microinversiones Amambay, a home-grown, Paraguayan style Ponzi scheme.

As the helpful slide presentation shows, you just put in 55,000 Guaranies ($11 USD) and then invite four of your friends to a presentation (for which they pay 7,000 G admission... $1.20 USD) on how to market the business you're starting with 55mil (mil = thousand) and if they also bring their friends, then, thanks to investing and the market and marketing and magic fairy dust, you get $800 USD back in 6 months.

Wait. You don't understand what it is that turns an investment of 11 bucks into 800? That's because you don't understand the useful economic principles of the market that are guaranteed to work and solve any economic quandary, which you can get for $1.20 and which, obviously, all the world's greatest economists don't know, otherwise the world economy wouldn't be in the horrid state it is.

Incidentally, I have figured out the fail-proof formula for figuring out if someone is trying to Ponzi you. One, the opportunity to invest is by invitation only. Two, the business recruitment material [mis]uses the [mis]quote from J. Paul Getty (or Paul J. Getty, as it is in some of the literature) "I would rather have 1% from the efforts of 100 men than 100% of the efforts of 1 individual" or, as it is translated into Spanish: "Prefiero ganar el 1% del esfuerzo de 100 personas en vez del 100% de mi propio esfuerzo."