This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, July 29th, 2008.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Depending on who you believe inflation in Zimbabwe is somewhere between 2 million and 10 million percent, sometimes 15 million percent.

Zimbabwean citizen rejoiced in Iguana, a writer and head of the Zimbabwean coalition

for market and liberal solutions, details some of the ground level

impact of an inflation that has worsened already horrific poverty.

What is the approximate inflation rate in Zimbabwe today?

Well, there are usually three figures that are flouted around.

The first figure is the official figure that comes from the Department of Statistics, which comes

once every six months months but we are told

that it's about 11,000 percent. Then there is a figure that comes from the

banking sector which is also semi-official.

The sector talks about a 2.5 or 3 million percent.

Then we get a figure that is almost accurate that comes from independent economists and independent

financial newspapers that is not fluctuates between 10 million and 15 million percent and that I'm afraid is

the figure that a progressive individuals like myself are working with.

Americans have almost no experience with hyper-inflation.

I presume that the ability for Zimbabweans to save in any real sense using the

Zimbabwe currency is for not. Yeah. Right. Incredible. Talking about Americans,

Christopher Dale was the last ambassador of USA in Zimbabwe before he was replaced by James

McGee. And before he left he mentioned

you know in public that he thought that inflation was going to go beyond 10

...