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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1344 Posts |
 Posted - 06/06/2008 : 09:46:28
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scott71578
Penny Pincher Member
USA
139 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 11:41:33
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| whats the "Z" for? zinc |
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1344 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 13:22:13
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quote:
Originally posted by scott71578
whats the "Z" for? zinc
No that is fiat money... Zinc would be much cheaper.  Z is Zimbabwe dollar. I am not sure what the exchange rate was in March when that bill is dated, but currently it is about 574.5 million Z to the dollar.
So if that bill was from today it would be for about $2.16 US or something like that. However, given how fast the exchange rate changes there is no telling what that would have cost in US dollars two months ago.
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
3577 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 14:32:00
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You would think at those prices they might automatically add in the gratuity. The bill is from March 23rd.. you wouldn't be able to get a deal like that now. If you eat slow do you get billed based on the price when you ordered the food, the price at the time you complete the meal, or some adjusted average?  |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
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TenBears
Penny Hoarding Member
873 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 14:39:18
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| That kind of currency just doesn't seem workable. |
"Rich," the Old Man said dreamily, "is not baying after what you can't have. Rich is having the time to do what you want to do. Rich is a little whiskey to drink and some food to eat and a roof over your head and a fish pole and a boat and a gun and a dollar for a box of shells. Rich is not owing any money to anybody, and not spending what you haven't got." Robert Ruark
there are too wild Indians...
there are too wild Indians...
there are too wild Indians...-----still taunted
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horgad
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1344 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 15:03:47
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quote:
Originally posted by HoardCopperByTheTon
You would think at those prices they might automatically add in the gratuity. The bill is from March 23rd.. you wouldn't be able to get a deal like that now. If you eat slow do you get billed based on the price when you ordered the food, the price at the time you complete the meal, or some adjusted average?
I can just see myself turning to my wife and saying "Quick, what is fifteen percent of one billion, two-hundred and fourty three million, two-hundred and fifty thousand?" And of course she responds "Just leave a 100 million. Service wasn't that good."
I don't about restaurants, but I swear that I read somewhere about stores raising prices on everything while people were shopping (though it may not have been in Zimbabwe). "Attention shoppers. Everything in the store has just doubled in price. Thank you and enjoy your day."  |
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JSutter
Penny Pincher Member
181 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 15:29:27
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http://www.thetidenews.com/article.aspx?qrDate=06/04/2008&qrTitle=Zimbabwe%20plans%20Z$100bn%20minimum%20wage&qrColumn=FOREIGN
Zimbabwe plans Z$100bn minimum wage
Wednesday, Jun 4, 2008
A top government official in Zimbabwe yesterday suggested a monthly minimum wage of Z$100 billion (N393,393), saying workers were driven into poverty by hyper-inflation and other economic hardships.
The country is going through its worst economic crisis in history, with inflation at more than 300,000 per cent, 80 per cent unemployment and widespread shortages of food and other basic essentials.
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$100.00 of 59-82 CU 1.6 cents each shipped. Will trade for junk silver |
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redneck
Penny Collector Member
308 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 15:42:10
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Come on, it only cost that much cause its in a Tourist trap area.
It would only have been Z$ 999.998.99 in the little village down the road.
The receipt has water (1 Min.) for only Z$ 95,635,000.00
That may be a bargain in the future.
2 Castle - Beer maybe? - It must be Recycled Beer...! - whatever it is it cost the same as water.
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pencilvanian
1000+ Penny Miser Member
2030 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 19:48:11
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http://tinyurl.com/6yomkr
Zimbabwe's currency crashes, prices rocket
excerpts from the story-
HARARE, June 5 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's currency plunged to a new record low on Thursday, trading at an average 1 billion to the U.S. dollar on a recently introduced interbank market and triggering massive price increases.
Traders were quoting the Zimbabwean dollar at between 995 million and 1.45 billion against the greenback in Thursday morning trade, up from an average 700 million at the beginning of the week.
Official figures put Zimbabwe's annual inflation -- the highest in the world -- at 165,000 percent in February, but analysts say the figure vaulted as high as 1.8 million percent by May.
....a loaf of bread, which cost about Z$15 million before the polls, now costs about Z$600 million.
A two-litre bottle of cooking oil costs about Z$5 billion,
almost equal to an average low-income worker's monthly wage.
********************
Inflation like this means the price of the meal increases by the second. It looks more like a meal from Wiemar than Zimbabwe. |
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2008 : 21:50:35
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar
On 16 February 2006, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono, announced that the government had printed ZWD 20.5 trillion in order to buy foreign currency to pay off IMF arrears.[14] In early May 2006, Zimbabwe's government announced that they would produce another 60 trillion Zimbabwean dollars [15]. The additional currency was required to finance the recent 300% salary increase for soldiers and policemen and 200% increase for other civil servants. The money was not budgeted for the current fiscal year, and the government did not say where it would come from. On 29 May, Reserve Bank officials told IRIN that plans to print about Zim$60 trillion (about US$592.9 million at official rates) were briefly delayed after the government failed to secure foreign currency to buy ink and special paper for printing money.
In late August 2006, it was reported that about ten trillion old dollars (22% of the money supply) had not been exchanged for revalued dollars. These bearer cheques were demonetized.
On 27 June 2007, it was announced that central bank governor Gideon Gono had been ordered by President Robert Mugabe to print an additional $1 trillion to cater for civil servants' and soldiers' salaries that were hiked by 600% and 900% respectively. [16]
On 28 July 2007, it was reported that Mugabe has said that Zimbabwe will go on printing money if there isn't enough for underfunded municipal projects. [17]
On 30 August 2007 it was reported that an additional ZWD 3 trillion had been printed to pay for 500,000 scotch carts and 800,000 ox-drawn ploughs plus an unspecified number of cattle. [18]
On 3 September 2007 it was reported that that the black market in Zimbabwe is once again booming despite price controls. People who previously were employed for a paltry $11 (ZW$2 Million) a month are now able to turn as much as $166 (ZW$30 Million) just through black market trading. [19]
On 24 November 2007 it was reported that money supply was now $58 trillion revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [20]. ($41 million US at parallel rates) However, Zimbabwe banks could only account for $1 to $2 trillion of those dollars, meaning that members of the public were holding $56 to $57 trillion in cash.
On 4 January 2008 it was reported that money supply had been increased by $33 trillion (to $100 trillion) [21] revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [22] Further, the demonetization of the $200,000 bearer cheques was put on hold, thus increasing the money supply.
The planned issue of additional banknotes (denominations of ZWD 1, 5, and 10 Million) on 18 January 2008 will increase the money supply by an unknown amount.
On 21 January 2008 it was reported, by Gideon Gono, that the money supply had been increased to $170 trillion since mid December. Further, Gono expected it to reach $800 Trillion by 28 January 2008. [23]
On 01 March 2008, it was reported that documents obtained by The Sunday Times show the Munich company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was receiving more than 500,000 (£382,000) a week for delivering bank notes at the astonishing rate of Z$170 trillion a week.
The regime is surviving by printing money, said Martin Rupiya, professor of war and security studies at the University of Zimbabwe. At this stage there is no other way.
According to a source at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, G&D was delivering 432,000 sheets of banknotes every week to Fidelity printers in Harare, where they were stamped with the denomination. Each sheet contains 40 notes and the current production is entirely in Z$10m notes. >>>>
That is like 1.7 trillion a week. That is nuts. You can't print your way to riches :).
I wouldn't want to sell anything. My hard goods would be worth more than the paper. That paper is pretty much worthless.
I like how they had a hard time buying paper and ink due to lower hard currency reserves.
If they would stop printing money, then inflation would stop after all that money worked its way through the system.
-SWUSC
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`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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Delawhere Jack
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2008 : 07:53:02
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quote:
Originally posted by swusc
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zimbabwean_dollar
On 16 February 2006, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Gideon Gono, announced that the government had printed ZWD 20.5 trillion in order to buy foreign currency to pay off IMF arrears.[14] In early May 2006, Zimbabwe's government announced that they would produce another 60 trillion Zimbabwean dollars [15]. The additional currency was required to finance the recent 300% salary increase for soldiers and policemen and 200% increase for other civil servants. The money was not budgeted for the current fiscal year, and the government did not say where it would come from. On 29 May, Reserve Bank officials told IRIN that plans to print about Zim$60 trillion (about US$592.9 million at official rates) were briefly delayed after the government failed to secure foreign currency to buy ink and special paper for printing money.
In late August 2006, it was reported that about ten trillion old dollars (22% of the money supply) had not been exchanged for revalued dollars. These bearer cheques were demonetized.
On 27 June 2007, it was announced that central bank governor Gideon Gono had been ordered by President Robert Mugabe to print an additional $1 trillion to cater for civil servants' and soldiers' salaries that were hiked by 600% and 900% respectively. [16]
On 28 July 2007, it was reported that Mugabe has said that Zimbabwe will go on printing money if there isn't enough for underfunded municipal projects. [17]
On 30 August 2007 it was reported that an additional ZWD 3 trillion had been printed to pay for 500,000 scotch carts and 800,000 ox-drawn ploughs plus an unspecified number of cattle. [18]
On 3 September 2007 it was reported that that the black market in Zimbabwe is once again booming despite price controls. People who previously were employed for a paltry $11 (ZW$2 Million) a month are now able to turn as much as $166 (ZW$30 Million) just through black market trading. [19]
On 24 November 2007 it was reported that money supply was now $58 trillion revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [20]. ($41 million US at parallel rates) However, Zimbabwe banks could only account for $1 to $2 trillion of those dollars, meaning that members of the public were holding $56 to $57 trillion in cash.
On 4 January 2008 it was reported that money supply had been increased by $33 trillion (to $100 trillion) [21] revalued Zimbabwean dollars (ZWD) [22] Further, the demonetization of the $200,000 bearer cheques was put on hold, thus increasing the money supply.
The planned issue of additional banknotes (denominations of ZWD 1, 5, and 10 Million) on 18 January 2008 will increase the money supply by an unknown amount.
On 21 January 2008 it was reported, by Gideon Gono, that the money supply had been increased to $170 trillion since mid December. Further, Gono expected it to reach $800 Trillion by 28 January 2008. [23]
On 01 March 2008, it was reported that documents obtained by The Sunday Times show the Munich company Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) was receiving more than 500,000 (£382,000) a week for delivering bank notes at the astonishing rate of Z$170 trillion a week.
The regime is surviving by printing money, said Martin Rupiya, professor of war and security studies at the University of Zimbabwe. At this stage there is no other way.
According to a source at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, G&D was delivering 432,000 sheets of banknotes every week to Fidelity printers in Harare, where they were stamped with the denomination. Each sheet contains 40 notes and the current production is entirely in Z$10m notes. >>>>
That is like 1.7 trillion a week. That is nuts. You can't print your way to riches :).
I wouldn't want to sell anything. My hard goods would be worth more than the paper. That paper is pretty much worthless.
I like how they had a hard time buying paper and ink due to lower hard currency reserves.
If they would stop printing money, then inflation would stop after all that money worked its way through the system.
-SWUSC
Funny that we can get date specific figures of currency supply for a third world nation, but our own government stopped issuing M3 data two years ago, and people are left to make a "best guess" on dollar supply. Actually, it's more sad than funny. |
Conservatives Are From Mars -- Leftists Are From Uranus! |
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2008 : 09:51:05
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Yea I agree. The problem with M3 is that the Federal Reserve doesn't have a lot of control over it.
# M0: Physical currency. A measure of the money supply which combines any liquid or cash assets held within a central bank and the amount of physical currency circulating in the economy. M0 (M-zero) is the most liquid measure of the money supply. It only includes cash or assets that could quickly be converted into currency. This measure is known as narrow money because it is the smallest measure of the money supply.[6]
# M1: M0 + demand deposits, which are checking accounts. This is used as a measurement for economists trying to quantify the amount of money in circulation. The M1 is a very liquid measure of the money supply, as it contains cash and assets that can quickly be converted to currency.[7]
# M2: M1 + small time deposits (less than $100,000), savings deposits, and non-institutional money-market funds. M2 is a broader classification of money than M1. Economists use M2 when looking to quantify the amount of money in circulation and trying to explain different economic monetary conditions. M2 is key economic indicator used to forecast inflation.[9]
# M3: M2 + all large time deposits, institutional money-market funds, short-term repurchase agreements, along with other larger liquid assets. The broadest measure of money; it is used by economists to estimate the entire supply of money within an economy.
M0 is under there control due to the printing of Federal Reserve Notes to replace U.S. government debt.
M1 is indirectly under their control due to the bank reserve numbers and ect.
M2 is somewhat under their control. They really don't control money market funds though.
M3 is totally outside their control. M3 would include all U.S. government debt due in under a year (Treasury Department and Congress's direct control), all investment grade issued debt under a year, U.S. government long term debt that has been used to back a short term loan through Repos and many more examples.
That is why I think everyone needs to cut the Fed a break. It isn't their fault. Congress is the one that add $4T to the U.S. government debt since 2000. It was the private sector that leverage up SPV and hedge funds to try and make equity returns in the bond/mortgage market.
It is Congress's fault that the dollar has dropped!
The money market funds hold short-term obligations such as Treasury bills (congress), commercial paper (private sector) and bankers' acceptances (Fed could play a factor here) plus very little actual cash, which is usually really a bank deposit.
Congress was smart in the fact they can now spend at will and blame someone else for the inflation they cause. Don't fall for their game. The Federal Reserve is the fall guy not the bad guy.
Just remember this fact. If the U.S. government debt was $0, then their would currently be a non official gold standard of $42.22 per oz of gold. That is all the currency they could issue unless they revalued the gold holdings. They can issue currency to replace U.S. government debt. No debt - no currency other than the notes issued from the gold holdings. The Federal Reserve isn't make the U.S. government's budget.
-SWUSC
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`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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Ant
Penny Collector Member
401 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2008 : 14:37:02
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| There is no such thing as a cheap date in Zimbabwe. |
"No, man. You gotta keep goin'. What am I gonna do? Quit? That's not an option. Life's a garden. Dig it? You make it work for you. You never give up, man. That's my philosophy." --Joe Dirt |
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2008 : 19:20:23
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Are they cheap dates in the U.S? If so, I haven't met her.
-SWUSC |
`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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Ant
Penny Collector Member
401 Posts |
 Posted - 06/08/2008 : 09:27:59
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quote:
Originally posted by swusc
Are they cheap dates in the U.S? If so, I haven't met her.
-SWUSC
There are lots of inexpensive things to do on a date with someone. Girls willing to go on inexpensive dates . . . enh, not so many. You could always offer to take her back to your place and show her your copper hoard.  |
"No, man. You gotta keep goin'. What am I gonna do? Quit? That's not an option. Life's a garden. Dig it? You make it work for you. You never give up, man. That's my philosophy." --Joe Dirt |
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Delawhere Jack
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 09:44:47
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quote:
Originally posted by swusc
Just remember this fact. If the U.S. government debt was $0, then their would currently be a non official gold standard of $42.22 per oz of gold. That is all the currency they could issue unless they revalued the gold holdings. They can issue currency to replace U.S. government debt. No debt - no currency other than the notes issued from the gold holdings. The Federal Reserve isn't make the U.S. government's budget.
-SWUSC
Good points, thanks. So we can look at it sort of as the congress being debt-junkies, and the Fed as their enabler.
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Conservatives Are From Mars -- Leftists Are From Uranus! |
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 12:20:02
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Exactly Delawhere.
The Fed has two jobs. Spread out the inflation created by Congress and be the lender of last resort to protect the financial markets. They failed to be the lender of last resort in the early 1930s. They don't seem ready to fail in that role in the 2000s.
Just think of what the inflation would have been over the years if the government had printed currency instead of creating treasuries? The inflation rate would have been a few points higher I would guess from the 50s on, but the 2000s would have been real bad.
The major problem is Treasuries are becoming more currency-like due to money market funds and computers. It is a lot easier to use a computer to math out cash flow budgets and buy better matches with Treasuries. Credit/debit cards allow less note need and more electronic money(money market funds).
It is getting harder for the Fed to keep inflation (already created by congress) pinned down. Due to factors outside their control.
Around 10% of the U.S. debt is in the form of Fed Notes (some of those notes have been lost, which means they can never be repaid).
Let's say Congress stops borrowing money. How long would it take to print it all with a target inflation of 1-2%?
1-2% inflation plus 1-2% productivity gains would mean 2-4% currency growth.
2% growth would take 116 years to print it all.
4% growth would take 59 years to print it all.
Don't forget they can't borrow any more money during that time. The Fed has done a great job keeping inflation low. They have protected us from higher inflation. (Note: the above numbers disregard interest savings from issuing Fed notes)
That takes to long. Let do it in 30 years. What would the currency growth rate have to be?
Answer: 8%
That would be 6-7% inflation for 30%. Then 1-2% deflation afterwards.
In 2038 assuming gold tracked inflation 6.5%, you could revalue their gold holdings to $6,000 an oz. Giving the U.S. dollar about 1/6 backing to gold. Congress has screwed us! Actually every Congress since Andrew Jackson has. Andrew Jackson had a National Treasury surplus.
Now if you forced the U.S. government to retire Fed Notes with the interest (4%) (this should be budgeted as it is now). Plus allowed the Fed to slow increase the value of the gold (3%) using the offset to forgive U.S. government debt.
27 (2065) years latter we would have U.S. dollar backed by gold at around $37k an oz.
Those 57 years would have had inflation with no real benefit to the citizens, since the benefit was already wasted on prior generations.
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`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 12:28:48
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Just wanted to add the above is just for nature of the problem.
There are a lot of variables that would affect things. (ex a high gold price would likely make all coinage stop trade due to the melt value vs face value) |
`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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Delawhere Jack
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
504 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2008 : 19:51:39
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quote:
Originally posted by swusc
Exactly Delawhere.
Around 10% of the U.S. debt is in the form of Fed Notes (some of those notes have been lost, which means they can never be repaid).
Only 10%? Where, (what?) is the rest of it? I had assumed that most if not all of the U.S. debt was financed by the sale of Fed Notes.
Also, what do you do for a living? Are you in finance/economics? You seem to have a greater in depth knowledge of these issues than a layman would. |
Conservatives Are From Mars -- Leftists Are From Uranus! |
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HoardCopperByTheTon
Administrator
USA
3577 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 03:12:46
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quote:
Originally posted by Ant
quote:
Originally posted by swusc
Are they cheap dates in the U.S? If so, I haven't met her.
-SWUSC
There are lots of inexpensive things to do on a date with someone. Girls willing to go on inexpensive dates . . . enh, not so many. You could always offer to take her back to your place and show her your copper hoard.
What a wonderful idea! She should be suitably impressed. After that do you think I could get her to do what I really want her to do?  ... Help run the machines to sort pennies! I have a hard time trying to run all those machines by myself sometimes. |
If your percentages are low.. just sort more. If your percentages are high.. just sort more.
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swusc
Penny Collector Member
489 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2008 : 19:14:16
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http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/Current/
Updated through June 5, 2008
Fed Notes Issued : $823,442,000,000
U.S. Treasuries purchased : $486,909,000,000
Repurchase Agreements: $114,107,000,000
Term auction credit $150,000,000,000
A lot of interbank loans are done by loaning them Treasuries instead of Notes. It is a way to keep the amount of notes down. (Plus I think the Fed Act of 1913 doesn't allow them to buy anything not backed by the U.S. government) The bank have to return the Treasuries, so we can lump them together I think. Only $11,041,000,000 in Notes were issued by gold reserves (actually the revaluing of gold would make that overstate, but it is now backing that many notes). The reset was done by either coin deposits or buying Treasuries. See those dollar coins do have a use :) The Federal Reserve issues the Mint a paper dollar for them, and they sit in the Federal Reserve vaults backing that paper money.
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ has around $9.4 T
I was an Accountant by trade at one point. I made some money, and went back to school. I am currently trying to get some missing classes to get into Med School. We will see if I can get in. I have read a lot about how the Federal Reserve works and inflation. All of my research lead me to believe Congress's spending is the problem. The Fed just plays with the hand it is dealt.
Inflation is a bitch to predict. The supply of money is easy to estimate, but the velocity of money is very hard. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velocity_of_money If money turned over twice as fast, then you would need a lot less money. If money turned over half as fast then you need a lot more money (or you will have deflation). If you double the money and Velocity stayed the same, then prices would double, since the amount of goods would be the same. If supply double and Velocity doubled, then you would have 400% inflation. I would bet that Zimbabwe is having the supply increase and the Velocity (who wants to hold a currency with high inflation) has increased together. Big picture is not that simple since you really have inflation some goods and deflation in others.
I think the Fed is hoping that they can pump a ton of liquidity into the markets to protect the banks balance sheets (A big bank failing would be awful for the whole country) and the economic slow down will drop the Velocity enough to kill inflation. When the economy start to turn around (Velocity starts increasing), then they can start pulling it back out without killing off big banks (they don't give a crap about small regional banks).
One thing I have learned.. Theory rarely works in real life!
-SWUSC |
`Everybody is ignorant. Only on different subjects.' Will Rogers
"This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the "hidden" confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard." Alan Greenspan, 1966. |
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kavajava
Penny Collector Member
USA
484 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2008 : 14:37:49
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quote:
Originally posted by HoardCopperByTheTon
If you eat slow do you get billed based on the price when you ordered the food, the price at the time you complete the meal, or some adjusted average?
I just read something this week that did talk about the price of food in a restaurant going up as you ate. Arggghhh can't remember--think it was in Germany during the Wiemar republic?
Also--workers were paid hourly so that they could spend it before it was devalued more. |
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Know Common Cents
Penny Pincher Member
173 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2008 : 19:40:58
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Z$ are the true hot potato. They should be spent the moment you receive them. That cycle just can't continue, but it seems to have gone on much longer than most could even imagine.
There has been abject poverty in this area of Africa for many, many years. Before retiring, my Father traveled on business to many countries in central and southern Africa. Each time he'd return, I'd marvel at what he saw. He told me many times that the people would gather in large crowds underneath those few street lights that were still operable. He found out all too soon that they were congregating there to catch and eat the flying insects that were attracted to the light.
He ended up living in Johannesburg for 7 years and I was fortunate to travel there several times to visit him. Johannesburg would rival any major city in the US with its skyscrapers, great hotels and shopping plus outstanding restaurants. Looking beyond that, though, it was absolutely disturbing to see the trains coming into the city from Soweto and the other areas of poverty. The workers were making their morning trip into the city to serve as housekeepers, gardeners, laborers, etc. People packed the trains tight inside the rail cars. Others, though, rode on the roof of the rail cars. Lots of people rode that way. Two separate times I saw someone fall off. They didn't move on the ground, but train didn't stop, of course. It just didn't seem to matter to anyone but me.
Now hold that picture in your minds eye and multiply it by tenfold or more. A very high percentage of the population of southern Africa is infected with the AIDS virus. I spoke to some of the older people while there and they told me that they expect this current generation to be wiped out by disease, famine, crime or lack of education. They're being completely written off.
To conclude that sobering thought, I'll lighten things up just a bit by saying that Castle Beer was my beverage of choice while there. Great stuff. They made Castle Milk Stout that was thick, dark, mellow and packed a high-alcohol punch. Gather 'round if you're 21 or over. I'm buying. |
Here in Wisconsin, we have some of the highest property and gasoline taxes in the US. We're squeezed so much, I have to make my daughter wear penny boxes for shoes. At least she has an endless supply. |
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Ponce
Penny Pincher Member
Cuba
174 Posts |
Posted - 06/25/2008 : 19:23:23
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I read the complete article for that bill elsewhere and it was a meal shared by two...... I was in Rhodesia back in 76 working as an aerial observer between Chipinga and Umtali, right next to the Mosanbique border......... Rhodesia was the bread basket of Africa and from overhead all that you could see was green fields.
By the way, at that time it was something like 89 Z to the dollar. |
"If you don't hold it, you don't own it"...Ponce |
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kavajava
Penny Collector Member
USA
484 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2008 : 10:16:31
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The official inflation rate was put at 165,000 percent by the government in February, but independent estimates put the real figure closer to 4 million percent.
A shopper lucky enough to find milk will spend 3 billion dollars (30 U.S. cents) for about 1 pint. A tray of 30 eggs, also scarce, can bought in a store for 45 billion dollars ($4.50 U.S.).
Full story here: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g04c5lk7bR-yMzZo8LcVGo_M0_owD91HAFLG0 |
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Nickelless
1000+ Penny Miser Member
USA
1311 Posts |
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Posted - 06/27/2008 : 03:57:09
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Dinner For 1 in Zimbabwe
