Barron's picks up on our Zimbabwe story
A month after we blogged about the possibility of the United States becoming the next Zimbabwe, Barron's picks up on the same theme this weekend in "Zimbabwe, Here We Come!" (subscription required):
RECORDS, THE RUSTY OLD SAW GOES, ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. So, incorrigibly jingoistic as always, and fully aware it still has a ways to go, we have every confidence that the U.S.A. can ultimately break Zimbabwe's record, set only this year, of an annual inflation rate of 100,580%.
Scoff not, please. We know that, at least by the official count, our own inflation rate remains in single digits. But, if a rapidly undeveloping country like Zimbabwe can lift its rate nearly 35,000 percentage points in a single month, our vaunted American know-how with a little concentrated effort can surely top that.
It also looks like the lie of core cpi is starting to catch fire outside of economics blogs. If the government loses control of this one, they are in for some serious inflation pain.
An obvious prerequisite to making a serious run for the No. 1 spot is to drop pronto the fiction of "core" inflation. A handy if crude device aimed at befuddling the masses here at home by craftily eliminating any commodity whose price is rising from our yardsticks of inflation, it's totally counter-productive if we truly intend to surpass Zimbabwe.
