Once upon a time, Zimbabwe was a reasonably prosperous country, at least by African standards. That has all been changed by the corruption and foolish mismanagement of the government of President Robert Mugabe, whose land reforms have lead to food shortages and hyperinflation. How bad is it?
Zimbabwe bank issues $10million bill - but it won't even buy you a hamburger in Harare
A hamburger there runs $15 million Zimbabwe dollars, which is around $6 U.S. That's if you can actually find a hamburger, what with shortages of bread, meat and just about everything else.
This, by the way, is after they slashed three zeros from their old currency in August 2006. Zimbabwe has hyperinflation running at an official rate of about 25,000 percent, but as the article notes, unofficially it's probably closer to 150,000 percent. Official unemployment is around 80%.
Thank your lucky stars that you are not a Zimbabwean.
