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Current DateTime: 08:19:59 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31047929
Expiration DateTime: 11/25/2009 8:20:29 PM

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Current DateTime: 08:19:59 25 Nov 2009
LinksList Documentid: 31047922
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Mar.05
12:24 PM ET
Thursday, 5 Mar 2009
Zimbabwe Will Be Our Financial White Knight

So you think we have deep economic troubles? Take the case of Zimbabwe where inflation is running at roughly 100 percent a day, which works out to 1 billion percent annually. It's bad. Very bad.

So bad that the government's Reserve Bank is doing what it can to keep up, turning the country's currency into global joke.

Here in the United States, we measure economic stimulus and budgets by "billions," and even "trillions."

I remember as a kid, listening to Ronald Reagan try to put "trillion" into perspective during one of his speeches as the nation's debt approached $1 trillion for the first time. He said that if you had a stack of $1,000 bills four inches high, you'd be a millionaire. To get to a $1 trillion, you'd need a stack of $1,000 bills 63 miles high!

Which leads me back to Zimbabwe. The government is now printing $100 trillion bank notes, which works out to about $30 in US currency. Imagine having to file an expense report after a quick trip to Zimbabwe: That $200 trillion meal might raise some eyebrows.

Meantime, for those interested, head on over to eBay [EBAY  Loading...      ()   ] where you can pick up a Zimbabwe $100 trillion note for under $10 US, and in many of the auctions, that includes free shipping.

Why even bother printing money? Seems Zimbabwe's citizens can just reach down, grab a handful of dirt, put it in a sack and use that for currency instead.

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Current DateTime: 12:56:54 25 Nov 2009
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