It's the end of an era. :weep: :lol:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/06/11/_zimbabwe_formally_ends_local_dollar_currency.html
QuoteZimbabwe Discontinues Its Currency, Ending Era of Bags of 100 Trillion Dollar Notes
By Elliot Hannon
After a brutal decade-plus, the Zimbabwean dollar is being put to rest. The country's central bank on Thursday announced as of Monday, June 15th the country will be dropping the local currency, which through severe economic mismanagement under President Robert Mugabe had not only become unusable, but a global punch line.
The exchange program set up by the central bank for holders of the local currency shows how far the beleaguered Zim dollar has fallen. For anything up to 175 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars the bank will offer $5 in return. After that $1 will be paid for every 35 quadrillion Zimbabwean dollars. Bills printed before 2009 are slightly more valuable and can be exchanged at a rate of $1 to 250 trillion Zimbabwe dollars.
The spiraling hyperinflation of the 2000's pushed the country to effectively abandon the local currency in 2009 for state business. Harare began using a basket of currencies, including the U.S. dollar and the South African rand, to curb inflation and restore faith in the banking system. The recent move by the government will bring day-to-day monetary transactions into the same multi-currency system. At its lowest point in 2009, hyperinflation had so decimated the currency that the largest denomination note was a whopping $100 trillion. It was not enough for bus fare at the time. Inflation during that period topped out at 500 billion percent. "At the height of Zimbabwe's economic crisis in 2008, Zimbabweans had to carry plastic bags bulging with bank notes to buy basic goods like bread and milk," Reuters notes.
I suddenly think that some museum or rich collector in the world should have at least two copies of every banknote ever published.
Did they beat the post WWII Hungarian record of hyperflation? Can't be sure with different scales used by Anglo-Saxons.
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F3%2F3e%2FZimbabwe_%24100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg&hash=9a9e33eb704f72d1791f12c6f04e8e8017a096d0)
I like the 80s hair metal font for the spelled out amount. :lol:
Quote from: Monoriu on June 12, 2015, 01:13:12 AM
I suddenly think that some museum or rich collector in the world should have at least two copies of every banknote ever published.
Well you wouldn't need to be a rich collector to acquire these notes...
Quote from: garbon on June 12, 2015, 05:42:25 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on June 12, 2015, 01:13:12 AM
I suddenly think that some museum or rich collector in the world should have at least two copies of every banknote ever published.
Well you wouldn't need to be a rich collector to acquire these notes...
The actual value is low, but the logistics of getting one isn't that easy.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zimbabwe-100-Trillion-Dollars-2008-AA-P-91-Uncirculated-50-100-Series-/290702453172?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43af3769b4 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Zimbabwe-100-Trillion-Dollars-2008-AA-P-91-Uncirculated-50-100-Series-/290702453172?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43af3769b4)
I will not buy it :contract:
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on June 12, 2015, 04:34:52 AM
Did they beat the post WWII Hungarian record of hyperflation? Can't be sure with different scales used by Anglo-Saxons.
AFAIK Hungary never came remotely close to 5 billion % inflation in single year. More like 1,000%.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 12, 2015, 09:51:28 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on June 12, 2015, 04:34:52 AM
Did they beat the post WWII Hungarian record of hyperflation? Can't be sure with different scales used by Anglo-Saxons.
AFAIK Hungary never came remotely close to 5 billion % inflation in single year. More like 1,000%.
Hungary went from 5.9x10^10 to the dollar in April to 4.6x10^29 in July. That's easily faster than Zimbabwe. That's like the Big Bang compared to Zimbabwe's glacial pace. :P
From Wiki: Peak Month and Rate of Inflation: Jul. 1946, 41.9 quadrillion percent
Now why hasn't the US Treasury thought of this!! Could pay off the debt in days! ;) Though I'm betting the idea has crossed the minds of some and I think I heard of someone half-hardheartedly proposing 1trillion dollar bills.
Quote from: KRonn on June 12, 2015, 10:01:06 AM
Now why hasn't the US Treasury thought of this!! Could pay off the debt in days!
What could go wrong? :P
Quote from: Zanza on June 12, 2015, 09:57:34 AM
Hungary went from 5.9x10^10 to the dollar in April to 4.6x10^29 in July. That's easily faster than Zimbabwe. That's like the Big Bang compared to Zimbabwe's glacial pace. :P
From Wiki: Peak Month and Rate of Inflation: Jul. 1946, 41.9 quadrillion percent
K
Quote from: Valmy on June 12, 2015, 10:04:15 AM
Quote from: KRonn on June 12, 2015, 10:01:06 AM
Now why hasn't the US Treasury thought of this!! Could pay off the debt in days!
What could go wrong? :P
:D
Quote from: Zanza on June 12, 2015, 09:57:34 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 12, 2015, 09:51:28 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on June 12, 2015, 04:34:52 AM
Did they beat the post WWII Hungarian record of hyperflation? Can't be sure with different scales used by Anglo-Saxons.
AFAIK Hungary never came remotely close to 5 billion % inflation in single year. More like 1,000%.
Hungary went from 5.9x10^10 to the dollar in April to 4.6x10^29 in July. That's easily faster than Zimbabwe. That's like the Big Bang compared to Zimbabwe's glacial pace. :P
From Wiki: Peak Month and Rate of Inflation: Jul. 1946, 41.9 quadrillion percent
Beyond a certain point, it's irrelevant. It's like trying to calculate what 1/0 is. You may get different answers depending on machine precision, but it's all the same thing. Once you hit a certain point, money isn't money anymore, it's just a scrap of paper.
Quote from: DGuller on June 12, 2015, 10:34:30 AM
Quote from: Zanza on June 12, 2015, 09:57:34 AM
Quote from: Admiral Yi on June 12, 2015, 09:51:28 AM
Quote from: Duque de Bragança on June 12, 2015, 04:34:52 AM
Did they beat the post WWII Hungarian record of hyperflation? Can't be sure with different scales used by Anglo-Saxons.
AFAIK Hungary never came remotely close to 5 billion % inflation in single year. More like 1,000%.
Hungary went from 5.9x10^10 to the dollar in April to 4.6x10^29 in July. That's easily faster than Zimbabwe. That's like the Big Bang compared to Zimbabwe's glacial pace. :P
From Wiki: Peak Month and Rate of Inflation: Jul. 1946, 41.9 quadrillion percent
Beyond a certain point, it's irrelevant. It's like trying to calculate what 1/0 is. You may get different answers depending on machine precision, but it's all the same thing. Once you hit a certain point, money isn't money anymore, it's just a scrap of paper.
Or even worse than a scrap of paper as it has all that printed design taking up space. :(
You can burn it for fuel. Do your part to reduce inflation at the same time.
Quote from: Valmy on June 12, 2015, 10:04:15 AM
Quote from: KRonn on June 12, 2015, 10:01:06 AM
Now why hasn't the US Treasury thought of this!! Could pay off the debt in days!
What could go wrong? :P
I think it could be a net benefit, but probably wouldn't cause too many problems. :hmm:
Anyway, where's my hyperinflation? When I went to law school, I was promised hyperinflation.
Quote from: Ideologue on June 12, 2015, 12:28:15 PM
Anyway, where's my hyperinflation? When I went to law school, I was promised hyperinflation.
It's deflation that's the bane of the central-planners these days. Gotta keep those bubbles expanding.
Deflation will save us all :)
I really wonder how this worked on a practical level.
I mean, the country is in the shitter but it hasn't collapsed. People still have jobs and do their shopping.
Wage renegotiations everyday?
Barter and foreign bills.
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on June 14, 2015, 08:44:12 AM
Barter and foreign bills.
Yes. People started using Rands and USD instead.
Quote from: Syt on June 12, 2015, 05:38:00 AM
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fupload.wikimedia.org%2Fwikipedia%2Fcommons%2F3%2F3e%2FZimbabwe_%24100_trillion_2009_Obverse.jpg&hash=9a9e33eb704f72d1791f12c6f04e8e8017a096d0)
I like the 80s hair metal font for the spelled out amount. :lol:
I like the fact the spent resources trying to make it difficult to counterfeit. :D
Quote from: Tyr on June 14, 2015, 08:42:11 AM
I really wonder how this worked on a practical level.
I mean, the country is in the shitter but it hasn't collapsed. People still have jobs and do their shopping.
Wage renegotiations everyday?
What happens in hyperinflation is that everyone switches to a different currency, so the official currency is more or less an artifact. I've lived through hyperinflation in Ukraine, where the highest denomination bill went from being 100 to being 100,000 when our family left. Everyone by that point was conducting their business in dollars, except for dealings with the government where the use of official currency was mandatory (not sure how that worked out).
Quote from: DGuller on June 17, 2015, 11:54:49 AM
Quote from: Tyr on June 14, 2015, 08:42:11 AM
I really wonder how this worked on a practical level.
I mean, the country is in the shitter but it hasn't collapsed. People still have jobs and do their shopping.
Wage renegotiations everyday?
What happens in hyperinflation is that everyone switches to a different currency, so the official currency is more or less an artifact. I've lived through hyperinflation in Ukraine, where the highest denomination bill went from being 100 to being 100,000 when our family left. Everyone by that point was conducting their business in dollars, except for dealings with the government where the use of official currency was mandatory (not sure how that worked out).
Why did they want bribes in official currency?