Hyper-Inflation, Up Close and Personal

By  •  Tuesday September 29, 2009 10:34 AM PDT  •  4 Comments

Dear Anonymous Donor:

Thank you for your contribution of a 2008 1,000,000,000,000 Zimbabwean dollar (ZWD) note, received by mail today. We note that the Zimbabwean government redenominated the ZWD again on February 2, 2009, at a rate of 1,000,000,000,000 old ZWD to 1 new ZWD, and as I write this your donation is currently valued at $0.00275961.

Since we don’t know where to send a letter thanking you for your contribution, please consider this your official notification that, in accordance with IRS regulations, your entire gift is tax-deductible, in return for which no goods or services were provided.

Please consult your own tax counsel to determine if you can deduct the cost of the stamp you used to mail it to us: its value is nearly 160 times that of your enclosed cash donation.

Very truly yours,
Mary Theroux

Tags: Africa, Budget and Tax Policy, Economics, Federal Reserve, Inflation, Money and Banking, The State

4 Comment(s)

  1. Haha, that is classic.

    Wes Dillard | Sep 30, 2009 | Reply

  2. I sent in a ZWD $100,000,000,000,000.00 note, that is $100 trillion. The ZWD $100 trillion notes are the world record highest numbered currency ever printed. In 1980 the Rhodesian dollar was pegged to the British Pound 1 for 1.
    Under Mugabe, inflation devalued the ZWD by a factor of 10^32. There were a total of three redenominations eliminating a total of 27 zeroes from the currency. After the $100 Trillion notes came out nobody would accept the ZWD currency anymore. It was quantitiative easing amok. The economy now runs on U.S. dollars. The ZWD notes are totally worthless except for numismatic novelty value.

    JR | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

  3. Funny that they [Zimbabwe citizens] now use USDs considering that at the rate the FED is printing them (or shall I say simply adding them to balance sheets), we’ll be carrying worthless trillion US dollar notes in a couple of years... some fools never learn.

    joe4liberty | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

  4. Oops, JR — sorry I missed those extra 00s! I looked at it briefly, and I guess it’s accurate that none of us can actually comprehend a number that large.

    Astounding.

    Thank you for the lesson.

    Best wishes,
    Mary

    Mary Theroux | Oct 6, 2009 | Reply

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