Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe - Fun with numbers
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation_in_Zimbabwe

First off, in 1980 when the Zimbabwean dollar was first introduced, it was worth about 1.59 United States dollars.

It was noted on another page that in 2006 a revaluation of the Zimbabwean dollar made it worth 1,000 of the old ones. On that page, it's noted that in August 2008, it was revaluated again, 10,000,000,000 of the old ones worth one new one. The last 2 entries are just insane:

"On 12 January 2009, Zimbabwe introduced the $50,000,000,000 note. [37]

On January 16, 2009, Zimbabwe announced plans for imminent issue of banknotes of $10 trillion, $20 trillion, $50 trillion, and $100 trillion." At the time of printing the $100 trillion bill, that was worth $30 USD. On January 20, it was noted to be worth about $10 USD.

So - as of January 20, the U.S. dollar was worth X old old Zimbabwean dollars...how much?

X = 100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (100 septillion). Good lord!

So - if Bill Gates was worth $50 billion USD, that'd mean in terms of old old Zimbabwean dollars, he'd be worth 5,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of them, or 5 decillion.

And hey, at the rate of their inflation, he'd be adding more commas in no time!

"The Cato Institute's Senior Fellow Steve Hanke released a document estimating Zimbabwe's annualized inflation rate to be 89.7 sextillion percent as of November 14, 2008; by his calculations, between October 24 and November 14, prices in Zimbabwe increased by the factor of 170-200 each week."

We've all got it easy - damn. Imagine that gallon of gas when it was $4 per gallon, and looking 3 weeks later to see it at $32,000,000 per gallon.

That crazy. So what's the cost of living there compared to the average salary?

Yep It's sad. I lived there between 93-95 was decent then.

That's fucking insane.

So, do zimbabweians get paid a trillion zimbabwe dollars per hour?

Man, that's fucked up.. why don't they just unfuck it so the numbers aren't so nuts.

I dunno how they take it into account with paychecks and stuff, though one page did say the unemployment was something like 80% and those that were employed were making negligible money anyways. Who the hell would want to get paid in Zimbabwean dollars? God, when the bank is printing a new bill worth 500 times the old bill they just started printing 4 days earlier, not a good sign!

They attempted to 5 months ago - 10 billion to 1 and it's even more ridiculously out of control now.

When I lived there we paid our maid Z$400 a month that was ~50 usd. The job she had before was 10 hours a day 6 day's a week at Z$250 a month. Fucking unreal when you come to think about it.

Just imagine how much the rich in Zimbabwe have profited from it...

Buy high-priced real estate with loans, pay off loans a few weeks later by converting a few USD to Zimbabwean dollars.

(and yes, you can get government loans if you're rich and well-connected in an utterly corrupt country - the current situation is making a few dozen of Mugabe's friends rich beyond belief)

Just imagine if someone working for you like that took payment in Zimbabwean dollars but was oblivious to the inflation situation. $240,000 would be 50 YEARS of work at $400/mo. "Oh, gosh, you know what? All I have is a $100 trillion bill. I'll go ahead and pay you now for your servitude for life, and hey, you can keep the change, okay? I like you and you could use it more than I could." Lol, she'd be your slave for life essentially AND would be ready to bear your children.

This is nothing new. Last year, their solution to hyper inflation was to just lop 6 zeroes off the end. So a 1 million dollar zimbabwe note was then a $1 note. That was useful for about a month before they went straight back to the same place. This is what Mugabe's land reform policy has done to Zimbabwe.

It certainly makes you look at post-apartheid South Africa in a different light. Sure, there are a lot of problems. Big problems. But look at how bad it could have been. Absolutely incredible situation at the moment.

And it's sad, but I have no desire to go back to the country in which I was born. None whatsover. That place is a fucking shithole.