Zimbabwe central bank printing money and causing inflation!
July 31, 2008 · By Charles Anthony
According to his own threats, I think Robert Mugabe should punish himself and his own central bankers:
President Robert Mugabe threatened a state of emergency if businesses profiteer from the economic crisis, a move that could give him even more sweeping powers to punish his opponents in the event that political power-sharing talks fail.
The real profiteering in this economic crisis comes from the government, the issuer of the currency.
This is beyond horrifying. The Mugabe Solution to control astronomical price inflation — which is a direct result of the government printing and printing worthless money while forcing people to use it — is to:
- change the digits on the bills
- put time limits on how much can be used
- to print more money!
He must believe in magic!
They do not believe in magic. They understand full well the economics of what they are doing and the government is using it to their advantage as much as possible. They are doing what all governments do: print money, hand it out selectively, tax and let the tax-payer pay more through consumer price increases. The outrageous inflation rates are a direct reflection of the outrageous tyranny and parasitism of the Mugabe government. Effectively, the government is forcing wealth away from the poor Zimbabwean towards the pockets of the government.
Get a load of this:
“No financial institution shall impose any fee, commission or other charge whatsoever in respect of the conversion from the old currency system to the new in terms of Subsection (9) or (10),” read the regulations.
A financial institution caught contravening the section would be liable to a fine of up to or exceeding Level 14, the highest level available.
I do not know what a “Level 14″ fine but I notice they are not denominating it in the form of a currency. I wonder why.
Historically, these disastrous hyper-inflationary episodes usually resolve themselves quickly if the printing press stops. My prediction is that once Mugabe is completely paralyzed with his own useless paper — i.e., his thugs are incapable of buying anything — a foreign country will wave a rescue package in front of him and inflation will disappear overnight. Such a rescue package will not come for free, mind you. Zimbabweans will have to concede some level of sovereignty which will likely be condemned as foreign imperialistic control when, in fact, it will all be solely Mugabe’s fault. Unfortunately, the poor Zimbabweans will continue to suffer until that day.
It’s sad that Canadian Tire money is worth more than the Zimbabwe ruble. It’s sad that Monopoly money is worth more than the Zimbabwe ruble.
Unfortunately, the hyperinflation probably doesn’t affect Mugabe himself or his cronies; they likely converted all their holdings to Euros or US dollars.