Consumer prices rising too fast while your currency craters? That citadel of sensibility, Zimbabwe, has discovered the solution: just stop all bank lending. What could possibly go wrong?
President Emmerson Mnangagwa ordered banks to stop lending with immediate effect on Saturday, saying the unprecedented move was meant to stop speculation against the Zimbabwean dollar, which has been rapidly devalued on a thriving black market.
Before Mnangagwa’s announcement, the Zimbabwean dollar was officially quoted at 165.94 against the U.S. dollar, but had been trading at an exchange rate of between 330 and 400 to the greenback on the black market.
somewhere in my collection i have a trillion dollar Zimbabwe bill from some 20 or 30 years ago. sits with my original 1930 Marks. 500000 mark denominations
Only a 1 trillion dollar Zim bill? They stopped at 100 Trillion dollar bills.
https://www.cnn.com/2016/05/06/africa/zimbabwe-trillion-dollar-note/index.html
Apologies for the CNN link.
Zimbabwe inflated three currencies over several years at the rate of 10 to the 25th power (100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 times). Morons couldn’t figure out what caused inflation. There are only 10 to the 78th power atoms in the universe. They have something to aim for.
Why doesn’t he just order the banks to give him money?
Inflationary Stupidity?
Argentina will not be far behind.
Venezuela will likely do something both equally novel AND equally stupid.
so food riots?
When Emperor Justine,the petulant, issues the billion dollar Canadian Note,his fluffers and fart catchers in the Media and Universities will cheer and tell us all to bow and show our gratitude that Dear Leader has made us all “So Rich”.
And the people of Trudopia are so incredibly stupid that they will indeed cheer for Dear Leader and bless their new found wealth,turning to rend and destroy all who are so ungrateful as to point out that those Billions of Canadian Dollars buy nothing outside of Can Ahh Duh and that the shelves are empty in Can Ahh Duh…Forward to our glorious future..
We have watched Zimbabwe and Venezuela lead down this path and all the usual suspects claim”It will never happen here”.
But notice..they never adequately explain “Why not”.
And a quick review of the Zimbabwe hyperinflation shows that it actually happened VERY quickly. It bumped along for a while without raising too much concern and then within a matter of months, it went ballistic.
Have a look to Sri Lanka my friends…Food Riots, Police being chased off the streets, Politicians housing on fire..
Can ya blame them…??
NOPE….How soon for that to the south of us..???
I think the expression should be “its understandable”. An incompetent will always surround itself with incompetents. Just look at who surrounds Prinz Dummkopf, Mendocino, Abracadabra, Guilbear, Freeland, Blair, Joly, the list is endless.