Posted on 08/19/2009 8:53:00 AM PDT by BGHater
You've heard how bad things were in the Weimar Republic, when people would rush straight to stores to buy food after receiving a pay check because their money would buy much less the next day.
But it turns out that Germany's hyperinflation in 1923 was nothing compared to that experienced by Hungary, Zimbabwe and Yugoslavia.
In a new paper published by the Cato Institute, economics professor Steve Hanke lists the all-time worst episodes of hyperinflation:
Note that Hungary's daily inflation rate was ten times greater than that in Weimar Germany, and prices doubled almost six times faster in Hungary than in the Weimar Republic.
Life in Weimar Germany was extremely difficult. But Hungary in 1946 was a lot worse.
Note: While the commonly accepted explanation for hyperinflation is government printing too much money, Ellen Brown argues that the real explanation is a concerted attack on a country's currency by foreign speculators and/or foreign governments.
Wow
Of course, the duration of hyperinflation also needs to be factored in... I think with that included in the mix, Zimbabwe wins all.
But on the REAL reason this report came out: to make us feel “fine” that we’re only going to hit 2,000% annual inflation - not even enough to break the top five! I mean really, what do we have to complain about...
I have a small collection of hyperinflation notes including:
500,000,000,000 (500 billion) mark note from October 1923
100,000,000,000,000 (100 trillion) Zimbabwe dollar
100 million pengo Hungatian note from 1946
The good thing about collecting these notes are it’s a cheap hobby because there are a lot circulating out there. For a small price, some of the German notes go for $1, you get to own a small piece of history.
Notgeld, German Emergency Currency - Notes between 1914 and 1923. A private collection.
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