While I was away in South Africa last week, the new budget for 2008 was announced. I am told it holds the world record in terms of numbers ($7.84 quadrillion forecast expenditure – go work it out for yourself!) but definitely not value. My next door neighbour tells me that the biggest single item was allotted to the election next year, some 220 trillion Zim dollars. That’s $220,000,000,000,000. I doubt that it will be used to organize a well run free-and-fair election but more of a let’s-win-at-any-cost sort of election. The unit used – was the trillion.
Oh, divide by 1.6 million to get the cash to US dollar rate and 3 million to get the transfer rate. That’s valid for the next day or two only.
Zimbabwe Absurdity 
How long before it all collapses?
Or should that be past tense?
On this side of the pond we are accustomed to those sorts of numbers – in our national debt. But then, your billion is our trillion…
As Sen. Everett Dirksen once said about the the U.S. Budget process, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money!”