Interview with the central banker of Zimbabwe
As you might expect it is very…what's the right word here? Excerpt:
I've been condemned by traditional economists who said that printing
money is responsible for inflation. Out of the necessity to exist, to
ensure my people survive, I had to find myself printing money. I found
myself doing extraordinary things that aren't in the textbooks. Then
the IMF asked the U.S. to please print money. I began to see the whole
world now in a mode of practicing what they have been saying I should
not. I decided that God had been on my side and had come to vindicate
me.
money is responsible for inflation. Out of the necessity to exist, to
ensure my people survive, I had to find myself printing money. I found
myself doing extraordinary things that aren't in the textbooks. Then
the IMF asked the U.S. to please print money. I began to see the whole
world now in a mode of practicing what they have been saying I should
not. I decided that God had been on my side and had come to vindicate
me.
Here is the whole interview and thanks to Bob for the pointer. This comment was interesting too:
In November you shut down Zimbabwe's stock exchange. Will you open it again?
The
stockbrokers were creating a money supply that wasn't there. I printed
Z$1.5 quadrillion, but the exchange was operating with Z$100
sextillion. So I said, "Who is doing my job?" Unless there is more
discipline and honor, the exchange will stay closed. I can't be
bothered. I don't know when it'll open. It's a free market, a business
which must be allowed to succeed or fail.