Zimbabwe is now a basket case economy. The economic mismanagement by the Government of President Robert Mugabe has driven Zimbabwe to such a state that inflation is now the highest in the world, reaching such levels that the impact on the citizens of the country must be incredible. Now, typically, the economic management of a country is something that the rulers of the country have to manage; but when you combine this with a Government that is now effectively illegal (having claimed an election by force) and which uses violence as a way of life in the country, then how is this different from other such regimes such as Saddam Hussein, Pol Pot, and so on:

Zimbabwe’s troubled central bank introduced $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy. As high as they are, though, the bills still aren’t enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can buy only four oranges. The new note is equal to just one U.S. dollar. Once-prosperous Zimbabwe has seen an unprecedented economic meltdown since it gained independence in 1980, with the official inflation rate now at 2.2 million percent.

In January, the government issued bills in denominations of $1 million, $5 million, and $10 million — and in May, it issued bills from $25 million and $50 million up to $25 billion and $50 billion. The new bills are actually bearer checks and have an expiration date of December 31. Zimbabwe has not had formal currency since the introduction of bearer checks as a temporary measure in 2003.

This is just another manifestation of the utter lack of governance in the country for the past many years, and the only approach that the Government takes is to blame either the business community, or to blame outside powers.