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In case there was any confusion over whether or not Africa was fucked up beyond comprehension, the inflation rate in Zimbabwe has now reached 231,000,000 %. An inflation rate, or anything, of that magnitude is literally beyond comprehension, as in, I have no idea what that even means. Prices must be doubling every couple of seconds; by the time one can even take money out of their pocket to pay for something, the price would have already gone up. 231,000,000 isn’t a number, it’s a concept, like light years; I have no frame of reference for what 231 million of anything even is.

A chronological list of headlines on NewZimbabwe.com, which hails itself as "The best Zimbabwe news site on the world wide web," tells the story as it unfolded:

January. 2007: Zimbabwe’s inflation hits 1,593% March, 2007: RBZ rolls out $5 000 and $50 000 note April, 2007: Zimbabwe’s inflation races to 3,714 percent August, 2007: Zimbabwe’s inflation rockets to 7,634% August, 2007: RBZ unveils $200,000 dollar bill September, 2007: Zimbabwe’s inflation doubles to 14,850% October, 2007: How Zimbabwe Lost Control of Inflation

Flash forward and move on to the international press as I assume the NewZimbabwe.com staff has starved to death:

May, 2008: Zimbabwe Inflation Now Over 1 Million Percent (Boston.com) August, 2008: Zimbabwe Inflation Hits 11,200,000 Percent (CNN.com) October, 2008: Zimbabwe Inflation Hits 231 Million Percent (Telegraph)

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