You may be acquainted with some of the problems in Zimbabwe — the nationalization of old colonial farms, the antics of Robert Mugabe to maintain power…and the country’s hyperinflation.
Consider, for example, the receipt at left, featured at the Freakonomics blog, for a dinner at Victoria Falls: Z$1.25 billion.
Of course, that’s only US$1.06, or €0.67 at today’s exchange rates…if the Z$ can be said to be convertible in the first place.
It’s still an impressive-looking bill.
Tags: Odd · Hyperinflation · Zimbabwe
From the Daily Mail:
The central bank of the southern African country has a issued a 10million Zimbabwe dollar note. The move increases the denomination of the nation’s highest bank note more than tenfold.
Even so, a hamburger in an ordinary cafe in Zimbabwe costs 15 million Zimbabwe dollars.[...]
The new 10 million note is the equivalent of about £2 at the dominant black market exchange rate. A hamburger at an ordinary cafe costs about 15 million Zimbabwe dollars (£3).[...]
Zimbabwe faces the world’s highest official inflation of an estimated 25,000 per cent. Independent financial institutions say real inflation is closer to 150,000 per cent.
Hopefully the cabal in the U.S. won’t take that as a challenge when considering the relative weakness in the U.S. dollar.
However, I hear that Regis is thinking about an inexpensive sequel to his former prime-time game show: “Who Wants to be a Billionaire?”
Tags: Economy · Hyperinflation · Inflation · Zimbabwe
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8 October 2008
