#21 The Slow Death of Money
From hyperinflation at the extremes to the quieter erosion of sterling and the dollar, purchasing power keeps moving in one direction. By the final months of 2008, Zimbabweans had stopped behaving as though their national currency was money. The notes still existed. Prices were still quoted in Zimbabwe dollars. Salaries were still paid in them. Yet the useful life of those salaries was collapsing by the day. The IMF estimated twelve-month inflation at roughly 500 billion per cent by September. Businesses increasingly demanded US dollars or South African rand instead. Within months, much of the economy had abandoned the currency altogether.
