New world record in Zimbabwe!

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2008-08-20 06:25am

Zimbabwe managed to set an impressive record with an inflation of 11.25 million % - in June! According to official statistics, which is considered to low by experts, the inflation rate increased by over 9 million % between May and June.

At the time of the currency revaluation that slashed 10-zeros from the bills the US$ cost 10 billion Zim$. Now it costs a trillion 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Zim$

Seems like the presses payed for Mugabes "election" campaign.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-08-20 08:23am

Their financial system has probably already collapsed, to be honest. It's the kind of inflation that makes people shy away from currency as a mean of exchange, since the bills are literally worth less than toilet paper.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2008-08-20 09:00am

Perhaps one day they will print the infinity bill - valid for one whipe...

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2008-08-20 09:26am

PeZook wrote:Their financial system has probably already collapsed, to be honest. It's the kind of inflation that makes people shy away from currency as a mean of exchange, since the bills are literally worth less than toilet paper.

Barter economy here they come! Commence the haggle!

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-08-20 09:32am

The cow probably just became the most valuable item on the market again, I guess.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-08-20 09:35am

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:The cow probably just became the most valuable item on the market again, I guess.

Cows, diesel fuel, food and things like baby formula are probably going to be the accepted currency for most Zimbabweans now.

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-08-20 09:59am

PeZook wrote:
Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:The cow probably just became the most valuable item on the market again, I guess.
Cows, diesel fuel, food and things like baby formula are probably going to be the accepted currency for most Zimbabweans now.

That assumes any of that will be imported.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2008-08-20 10:42am

Well the prime upholders of Zimbabwe these days are probably all those driven into exile who send money home to keep their families alive.

Decue · Post by **Decue** » 2008-08-20 01:39pm

so, its time to buy some zimbabwe dollars and voilá, your a multi billionare

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2008-08-20 01:51pm

Decue wrote:so, its time to buy some zimbabwe dollars and voilá, your a multi billionare

I've been thinking the same thing. Even if the currency never recovers, it'd be a nice historical memento.

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2008-08-20 02:02pm

One could probably make a profit exchanging foreign currency for Zimbabwean dollars and then selling said Zimbabwean dollars as scrap paper/cloth.

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2008-08-20 07:41pm

So this was after they tried to magically make inflation go away by arbitrarily slashing zeros off the currency notes? That's hilarious, to be honest, although you do feel sorry for the Zimbabweans for the utter ass-fucking Mugabe is doing to their economy.

Seriously, though, if the currency is very much worth less than the paper it's printed on, then what is the regime using to pay for the paper? Does Mugabe have a stash of serious currency he's using to pay for his craptacular economics?

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2008-08-20 08:00pm

Guardsman Bass wrote:So this was after they tried to magically make inflation go away by arbitrarily slashing zeros off the currency notes? That's hilarious, to be honest, although you do feel sorry for the Zimbabweans for the utter ass-fucking Mugabe is doing to their economy.

Seriously, though, if the currency is very much worth less than the paper it's printed on, then what is the regime using to pay for the paper? Does Mugabe have a stash of serious currency he's using to pay for his craptacular economics?

The Zimbabweans aren't the first to do that. Ne Win and the Burmese junta tried that sometime in the seventies.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-08-21 02:32am

Guardsman Bass wrote: Seriously, though, if the currency is very much worth less than the paper it's printed on, then what is the regime using to pay for the paper? Does Mugabe have a stash of serious currency he's using to pay for his craptacular economics?

I don't know anything about the technology they use to print their notes, but it's entirely possible he just takes the raw material and pays for it with his Monopoly money. And if you don't accept them? Well, there's non-monopoly rifles here, and you should probably stare down a barrel of one for a few seconds. That better? Good.

That or he really does foreign trade in other currencies, appropriates the proceeds and uses them to print money so that he can try and maintain the illusion of being a sane ruler.

You know, I always wondered about that: Inflation is a concept covered in any economics textbook. Why do tin-pot dictators have such a hard time understanding it?

Fingolfin_Noldor · Post by **Fingolfin_Noldor** » 2008-08-21 02:34am

PeZook wrote:You know, I always wondered about that: Inflation is a concept covered in any economics textbook. Why do tin-pot dictators have such a hard time understanding it?

I think it's because they are stuck in the "It's good to be King" mindset, which detaches them from the real world. They think they can do whatever they want to do... yeah, whatever they want to do.

Post by **K. A. Pital** » 2008-08-21 03:04am

Paper stocks for money probably won't run dry especially in Mugabe-land. But money there isn't worthy anything for a long lime already, so it's full barter and the money only serves to further show it's total worthlesnness.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2008-08-21 03:08am

They need Moist von Lipwig

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2008-08-21 03:14am

wautd wrote:They need Moist von Lipwig

No they need Vetinari...

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2008-08-21 04:13am

You know, I always wondered about that: Inflation is a concept covered in any economics textbook. Why do tin-pot dictators have such a hard time understanding it?

Most of the bad ones tend to be terrible at restraining their spending, so when they get in a tight pinch, well - why not devalue the currency by printing more to pay for more neat stuff? It's sure easier than raising taxes or liquidating people for money.

Netko · Post by **Netko** » 2008-08-21 04:26am

Alyrium Denryle wrote:
PeZook wrote:Their financial system has probably already collapsed, to be honest. It's the kind of inflation that makes people shy away from currency as a mean of exchange, since the bills are literally worth less than toilet paper.
Barter economy here they come! Commence the haggle!

Probably not so much barter, but usage of foreign currencies - US dollars, Euros, and Swiss Francs.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2008-08-21 04:41am

Guardsman Bass wrote:
Seriously, though, if the currency is very much worth less than the paper it's printed on, then what is the regime using to pay for the paper? Does Mugabe have a stash of serious currency he's using to pay for his craptacular economics?

Until recently all the nations currency was printed by a German firm, this is pretty typical of African nations which commonly have French or German firms control the money supply. However Zimbabwe now prints its own currency. They do export some raw materials to the world market, so the government will always have a trickle of hard currency to work with. Right now though for the common man the problem is not inflation or the need to barter… it’s the total evaporation of and and all products of obtain at any price. Most people are too poor to have anything to barter anyway.

PeZook · Post by **PeZook** » 2008-08-21 04:43am

Netko wrote: Probably not so much barter, but usage of foreign currencies - US dollars, Euros, and Swiss Francs.

They're in the middle of fucking Africa. Foreign currency is going to be operating right next to "currency" like flour or fuel, rather than filling in for Mugabe's Monopoly money.

CJvR · Post by **CJvR** » 2008-08-21 06:55am

Sea Skimmer wrote:Until recently all the nations currency was printed by a German firm...

IIRC they only sold the special paper the printing was done locally. Hell they might just use regular paper now, why not? I doubt it would pay to counterfit the Zimb£ - the copying machine's color cartridge would wear out before you made a profit.

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2008-08-21 03:14pm

Fingolfin_Noldor wrote:
PeZook wrote:You know, I always wondered about that: Inflation is a concept covered in any economics textbook. Why do tin-pot dictators have such a hard time understanding it?
I think it's because they are stuck in the "It's good to be King" mindset, which detaches them from the real world. They think they can do whatever they want to do... yeah, whatever they want to do.

Most dictators are probably arrogant enough to think that they're the exception to the rule.

*looks in the general direction of the White House*