Just as a reflection on what printing money to pay for over sized government action can do to a country’s currency, I recommend this nice little synopsis of Zimbabwe’s recent currency troubles:
Robert Mugabe, a fine political leader to say the least, has printed money to pay for everything from increased soldier salaries to government projects. When inflation ramped up he order businesses (if you’re a business owner and not involved in politics right now, you’re dumb) to lower their prices. It resulted in no products stocked because who is going to sell something below his cost? Then Mugabe started arresting store owners and the black market for goods went wild. It really makes you want to follow Jim Rogers’ advice and get your money out of US dollars, doesn’t it?
[For an interesting deferential reference to the US policy by comparing it to Zimbabwe’s, and to learn more about inflation from one of my favorite economists, read here – CNBC – Faber. I absolutely love Faber’s sarcasm in this article. And in that note, sarcasm just rocks when done with a Swiss-German accent!]
The author is also trying to promote his gold stocks newsletter so just take note of that- however, the article is informative. I have no opinion on his newsletter though. It may be a good newsletter, but my site is for education and ideas right now so I don’t promote others’ products or even my own firm on here.
Chris Grande
