The real "d2z" : an Economist.com journalist's Zimbabwe Blog

[d_goddard]

http://economist.com/daily/diary/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9821376

"What will happen when the dollar crashes to zero?"
No need to speculate, you can read the daily blow-by-blow as a reporter from The Economist tries to survive in Zimbabwe, where, thanks to government meddling, the value of the currency has dropped by a factor of a hundred thousand over the past 2 years.

It's like reading something from the final chapters of Atlas Shrugged... except, there is no John Galt.

Last year the government had allowed private importers to bring in fuel, which was expensive but available legally at petrol stations. Thanks to the price controls slapped on in June to fight spiralling inflation, stations have run dry again, unable to restock at the unrealistic new price.
...
Buying local currency at the grossly overvalued official exchange rate would make everything extraordinarily expensive. The local currency has recently been devalued from Z$250 to the American dollar to Z$30,000, but this is still way off the Z$270,000 it unofficially trades for now.
...
Ironically, the black market has infiltrated the control room of the official foreign exchange system, thanks to accommodating employees keen to pad up their meagre salaries.
This is a flourishing business.
...
Zimbabweans are only allowed to withdraw Z$1.5m a day from their bank account. So unofficial dealers are providing cash against bank transfers, for a fee. Trading of all kinds has become a way of survival in a country plagued by 80% unemployment, and where those employed cannot survive on salaries eaten away by inflation officially estimated at over 7,600% but probably even higher.
...

[Braddogg]

Fascinating; thanks for the link, D.

[KBCraig]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_rock_bank#2007_Credit_Crisis

[d_goddard]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_rock_bank#2007_Credit_Crisis

Yep... for everyone that thinks currency implosion only happens to countries populated by non-white people...

And of course the Fed just lowered the rate by a full 50 basis points, virtually guaranteeing the Beast called Inflation will visit our country in the next 12-18 months.

Ron Paul is right   

[KBCraig]

Did you see the video of Jon Stewart totally owning Alan Greenspan? I wish he'd quoted some of Greenspan's early writings.